


It’s Only Forever

by KrystalMoon



Series: To Love a Goblin King [1]
Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Autumn court, F/M, Faeries - Freeform, Romance, Seelie, Spring Court, Summer Court, Unseelie, Winter Court, fae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-17 10:42:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16094033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrystalMoon/pseuds/KrystalMoon
Summary: When fae fall in love, their fates intertwine in such a way that seals their destinies together. For a fae to fall in love with a human, it becomes a death sentence. Especially more so when the mortal ingests fae food, and begins to wither away. Forced with a huge decision, Sarah is faced with a new challenge and is expected to take it in stride. But as she's already discovered in the past, it isn't always what it seems.(Rated Mature because the series may get violent later on. This particular work is safe.)





	1. Prologue: Be Careful What You Wish For

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:**  
> I don’t own the Labyrinth, it’s characters, or it’s world. I’ve infused the Labyrinth’s world with lore from fae lore, and a few OCs here and there, but otherwise this is purely a work of fanfiction meant to be enjoyed and is not for profit by any means.
> 
> Please enjoy.
> 
> ———————————

_Be careful what you wish for._  

Sarah Williams would learn this lesson the hard way, after another night of being forced to babysit her spoiled baby half-brother, Toby.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love Toby, though. Certainly, Sarah still was a child herself and with her youth and naivety came a frail and misguided temper. Truth be told, her resentment was for Karen Irene Williams, her step mother, who Sarah took pleasure in referring to as “Karen,” much to Irene’s great annoyance. But it was also much more deeper and complicated than that.

Confusion and hurt feelings still plagued her over her mother leaving her with her father and never returning. Sarah didn’t understand why she was abandoned. Why couldn’t her mom take her with her? Before Toby was born, Irene and her father would go out almost nightly, leaving Sarah alone and feeling neglected, plagued by thoughts and feelings she hardly understood at that age. She started to resort to escaping into books of fantasy.

Her favorites were about the fae. Fae were particularly interesting creatures. Some stories talked about elves, dragons, orcs, and fairies. But they all carried a similar theme of magic which fascinated Sarah.

She would play-act in the park often. It was usually abandoned besides a barn owl in the park. Most afternoons she would find the pale feathered bird perched in one of the trees. Sarah would sometimes talk to it, but mostly she simply ignored it and lose herself in her own make-believe world of the fae.

But then Toby was born. Between school and the weekends babysitting while her father and Irene would go out, Sarah had suddenly far less time to escape to the park and her books.

One particular book Sarah came to love was “the Labyrinth.” 

The story followed a young girl, very much like herself, who wished away her baby brother to the goblins. Goblins were ugly, wicked fae creatures who were often an antagonist of sorts in fairytales. But the king of the goblins fell in love with the young girl, and granted her abilities she knew nothing of, and made all her wishes come true. In a moment of rage, after her evil step-mother forced the young girl to labor all day, argued with her, and left her to take care of the baby while she went to a ball with the young girl’s father, she wished her brother away to the goblins. 

Her wish came true, and the Goblin King, himself, visited the young girl, and took her brother away. In the world of the fae, especially around the wicked ones, one must be careful not to wish for things they might regret, or they might come true. Fortunately for the young girl in the story, the Goblin King let her into his realm, into his Labyrinth, to quest for her baby brother. Unlike some fairytales, this one ended happily, where the young girl got her brother back.

Sarah loved this story so much, she often play-acted it out in the park when she could. Sometimes towards the owl, sometimes to the family dog, Merlin.

But one particular evening changed Sarah forever. She came home five-past-seven in the afternoon, and Irene was in a rage over it. It had started pouring rain out of nowhere, soaking Sarah to the bone and Irene even went as far as to demand that Merlin stay outside despite the weather. But, as usual, her father didn’t intervene. He didn’t seemed to care about the wickedness, and Sarah resented him for it. Angrily, she stormed upstairs, her temper flaring. It was then, after they left, that Sarah noticed her favorite teddy bear, Sir Lancelot, was in Toby’s room, who was crying.

Enraged, Sarah, like the young girl in “the Labyrinth,” wished her baby brother away to the goblin king as she retrieved Sir Lancelot and left the room.

When Toby’s crying stopped suddenly, Sarah was filled with dread and instant regret. When she discovered her brother was indeed missing after returning to his nursery, the windows flew open and in flew the owl from the park.

But the owl wasn’t just an ordinary owl, she discovered. In a moment, the owl became a tall, human-like creature with wild blond hair, slanted and narrow blue eyes, pointed ears, and a sharp angular face. Sarah had found herself face to face with the Goblin King.

She begged him for her brother back, but as like the stories, the fae king would not budge.

“What’s said, is said.”

But, the fae allowed her a chance to prove herself, to earn her brother back, by reaching the castle inside the Goblin City at the heart of a massive Labyrinth. It would be no easy task, and she only had thirteen hours to accomplish her goal.

But Sarah was determined to go.

She had a rough start, and found herself in trouble quite often. The Goblin King even had to send someone to get her out of an oubliette she fell into. But eventually, she would accomplish her goal.

Little did Sarah know, the Goblin King, much like her favorite story, was in love with her. When he tricked her into eating a peach infused with a potion to forget everything, and trapped her inside a pocket dimension within a bubble where people danced and partied endlessly, he found that he couldn’t complete the spell. Instead, stripped away from all of her worries and fears, he discovered she was in love with him.

When she left the Labyrinth behind in a fashion not unlike the girl from the fairytale, the Goblin King sent her and Toby back.

But it was too late because Sarah had already forgotten the second biggest rule:

_Don’t eat the food in the fae world._


	2. Don’t Eat The Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! I’m excited to present another Chapter. With another one already on the way! Thank you for the kudos, it really made me happy!

“Sarah.”

Sarah’s eyes flew open as she sat up, instantly tense and her heart racing. She scanned her dark bedroom for the owner of the voice, but found no one. Adrenaline immediately waking her up, she slid off her bed and strode over to the light, flipped it on with snap and glared at her empty room.

Nothing was out of place except for her sheets which showed evidence of her practically thrashing about in her sleep. There was no noise except for her fast, panicked breathing and the pitter-patter of rain hitting the window from outside.

She gave herself a small start when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, but found it only to be her own reflection in the mirror of her vanity chest. Taking a deep breath, Sarah steadied herself and shut the light back off. Making her way back to the bed she sat on it and just stared off into space.

It had been a month or so since she returned home from the labyrinth after rescuing Toby. But all was not well. She could barely eat, she found it difficult to socialize at school, and worse yet, her health had started to wane. She was sick nearly every day. Now she was being tormented by the bodiless voice of the goblin king waking her up from a sound sleep.

Sarah gently covered her face with her hands and rested her elbows on her knees. The heroine had returned triumphant, so why didn’t she feel that way?

To make matters worse, all her friends from the other side hasn’t visited since the night she got back. She’d called for them often, but none came. So much for “should you need us.”

Sarah’s stick-up-the-butt stepmother was even more nasty than before. At first, it seemed like Sarah and Karen’s relationship had restored. For a week Sarah even called her “Irene.” But their relationship became tense again starting when Sarah found she couldn’t stomach Karen’s cooking. It was really all food, and not necessarily just Karen’s, but that didn't seem to matter. It only grew worse when Karen took to getting very annoyingly nit-picky of Sarah’s life and habits.

Last night they had gotten into a particularly nasty fight which ended with Karen suggesting that Sarah was a burden on both her and her father. That hurt a lot. Especially when her dad said and did nothing in response.

“It’s as if he agreed with her…” Sarah mumbled, rubbing her now tear-stained cheeks off. She leaned back to lay down and stared at the ceiling in hopelessness, her arms spread out from her. A rogue thought came to her. “I wonder if the Goblin King could have magicked her away instead of Toby… I should have wished for her instead. She’d make a fine goblin.” She grinned to herself. “King Jareth probably would have sent her to the Bog of Eternal Stench as soon as she arrived…”

A moment later, Sarah sighed regretfully. It wasn’t a nice thing to say. Wishing anyone away wasn’t very nice.

Her stomach got shot with a random stabbing pain, which caused Sarah to grunt and reflexively double over and twist onto her side. Unfortunately, she had twisted herself right off the bed. She laid there for a moment, not amused with the predicament, before sitting up and glaring down at her stomach.

“Really, I wish I could eat, but you keep vomiting up everything,” she scolded it.

Their last hospital visit after Sarah last fainted from starvation was a couple days ago. The doctor there was able to intravenously give Sarah nutrients her body needed. He also dashed Karen’s wish of diagnosing Sarah as a “crazed attention-seeking anorexic brat.” He said it’s as if Sarah was allergic to all foods, and he’d need to do bloodwork and such to figure out what exactly it would be. Sarah would be going in for that on her next appointment. 

Relishing that memory for a moment, Sarah found herself staring at one of her books on the fae. Thoughtlessly, she pulled it out and examined the cover, running a finger almost lovingly along its decorated spine. She flipped open to one of her favorite tales.

The story was about a young lady who was born able to see fae. This also meant fae were drawn to her naturally, and it caused her great misfortune throughout her life. She was bought from an auction she had sold herself to in her grief by another magi to raise her to be his apprentice. They had many adventures including one where she got a chance to visit the fae realm. But the visit had its rules.

The slight smile that was on her face disappeared as she grew dizzy with cold realization.

“Don’t eat their food,” she whispered to herself. She put the book back and pulled out another. A guide to fae-folk and their world. She flipped through the pages swiftly, going back and forth until she spotted what she was looking for. “Fae food, once consumed by a mortal, will trap the mortal in the fae realm. If the mortal leaves, they will be unable to consume mortal food and will eventually wither and die from starvation…”

_ The peach! _

She clutched her neck, her mouth opened in horror.

 

—————————

 

_ “Sarah…” _

_ Sarah turned to Hoggle, who’s small form was striding uncomfortably towards her, his arm outstretched. Something was in his large gnarled hand. _

_ “Yea?” Sarah asked, reaching out to retrieve whatever he had in his hand. _

_ “Here…” Hoggle said sadly, dropping a large, plump peach into her hands. Sarah looked at her friend for a moment, unsure why he sounded so sad. _

_ “Perhaps he was hungry. But he wanted to share,” Sarah thought to herself. She would be sure to save him half. Out loud she said, “Thank you, Hoggle, that’s very kind of you. You’re a life saver!” _

_ “Yea, well…” he mumbled, not looking her in the eye. _

_ Sarah spared no caution to her hunger and hastily bit into the fruit and swallowed. The burst of flavor was unlike any other peach. As a matter of fact, it tasted very off. It was very intense, and made Sarah instantly feel dizzy. Her tongue felt burnt. _

_ “This tastes strange.” Sarah looked at Hoggle in confusion. Colors were brightening up and swimming around Hoggle as he stepped back, looking guiltily at her. “Hoggle what have you done?” _

_ “Oh, damn you, Jareth,” he muttered turning tail and running away from Sarah. “And damn me, too…” _

 

—————————

 

Sarah clutched the book tightly as she stared into space, going over that memory in detail. She dropped the book entirely and covered her face.

“Oh, how could I have been so stupid?” She demanded angrily. In a fit of temper she stood up suddenly and threw the book away from her. She walked over to her mirror and glared at her reflection. “Of course he let me go. Because he  _ knew _ ! There had to be a way to reverse it…”

Sarah spun around and retrieved the book, it’s pages now bent from being tossed across the room. She found the page easily again, and reread it.

“He is the only one who can reverse it? You’re joking!” she snarled at the book. She slammed it on her drawers and glowered at it. “How do I even get back to that place? To the Labyrinth? I should be tied to it, right? There has to be a way…”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes right. She willed herself back there with all her might and opened her eyes. She was still in her room.

“Ok, Sarah, calm down. You’re getting a little too worked up right now,” she muttered to herself. She opened a drawer and retrieved the Labyrinth from its hiding place. “He’s a fae King… surely he or at least the goblins can hear my wishes, right?”

She closed her eyes again and took a deep calming breath. But her heart beat in her throat, pounding hard. It was hard to calm down from all the anxiety this was causing.

“I wish I was back at the Labyrinth… Right now.”


	3. Don’t Push Your Luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimers apply.

Sarah didn’t need to open her eyes to know she had made it.

A crisp, gentle breeze swirled around her invitingly, filling her nose with the familiar aromas that the labyrinth had. Sweet but musky. The smell alone seemed to put Sarah at ease, as if she finally came home after so long. She opened her eyes unwillingly and took in the beautiful landscape lit up with golden caramel light from the sun which had recently broke over the horizon and lit the valley.

She was standing in the center of the labyrinth, just outside the castle’s entrance. Finding the view oddly relaxing, she looked out from the elevated path that overlooked the goblin city, the labyrinth, and the surrounding realm. For the slightest of moments, Sarah allowed herself time to think if she had taken King Jareth up on his offer what it might have been like.

Beneath her, down a steep hill, was the edge of the Goblin City which encircled the castle. Goblins bustled about their day, doing chores, odd jobs here and there. But all mostly goofing around. Tossing small rocks at one another or rolling what large boulders they could move at each other. It seemed like a weird game of tag, but it was nice that Ludo’s rock calling hadn’t completely ruined any lives that it didn’t need to.

Twisting on her heel, she tore her eyes from admiring the landscape to face the castle and began to worry.

What would she do if the king refused her audience? Or if she couldn’t find him?

Sarah shook her dark-haired head and set her jaw, stepping up to the overly large and heavy scaled castle doors. She raised a hand to push them when the opened on their own.

Her jaw dropped for a moment. There he stood, before her.

Jareth’s sharp, narrow angular eyes were piercing right through her as usual, his angled brow and sharp, fierce facial features making him look far more elven than human. Pointed ears barely visible through his wild long hair which stood out in a fluffy-like look at the top where it was shorter. His tall, thin frame was decorated in a dark leather high collared jacket which had a long tail that barely brushed the ground, and matching knee-high boots. He wore no crown, but a glittering sickle-shaped pendant glittered upon his chest, his shirt opened enough to reveal it.

Sarah never wondered until now what kind of fae the monarch before her was. She had never considered this place to even be a fae kingdom. It changed how she saw everything.

“Well?” he asked her impatiently. Sarah realized she had been staring for a little while.

“You were expecting me?” she asked curiously.

“Come now, you didn’t really expect to sneak in here without my notice, did you?” He turned his head to regard her out of the corner of his eye, an amused half-grin pulling at one corner of his mouth. When Sarah didn’t answer, he looked at her straight-on and shook his head. “I cannot begin to fathom why you are back.”

“Why not?” Sarah had intended to sound uninterested and cool, but instead came off as offended. A sharp pang hit her stomach and causing her to double over again, sucking air sharply into her lungs. “It’s your fault!” she grunted through her teeth.

The pain went away as before returning to the dull ache she was used to lately, and she straightened up in time to see Jareth’s brow furrowed for a brief second. His expression went blank as his eyes focused on something behind Sarah. She felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment.

“Please just pretend that didn’t just happen,” she thought to herself.

“Ah!” His blue and black eyes refocused on Sarah, a mischievous grin on his features. “The peach. I forgot about the effect of our food on mortals.”

“How convenient…” Sarah muttered.

“That puts you in a bit of a predicament, now doesn’t it?” he asked her rhetorically, ignoring her. He was acting rather cocky, clearly enjoying himself, and it really was annoying.

“Just release me from it,” Sarah snapped, glaring at him hatefully.

“And why should I do that?” He chuckled darkly. “How do you know I wouldn’t just let you wither away.”

Sarah realized she hadn’t thought this through all the way, and she swallowed the terrified lump in her throat, being careful not to show it. But something must have tipped him off, because his smile only broadened.

“You wouldn’t let me die,” Sarah said, coming up with an idea half-baked off the top of her head. “You’re in love with me.” She bit her lips together, hoping that might work and he didn’t pick up on the desperation.

The snide grin slid from his face and was replaced by a dark look. But Sarah noted that he didn’t deny it. Her heart begin to race with anxiety she didn’t quite understand when he didn’t immediately respond.

“You’ll be able to eat the food here,” he said flatly.

“That’s not fair!” Sarah cried, clenching her fists at her sides.

“Oh, it isn’t?” he asked coldly. “Being allowed the freedom to come and go as you wish isn’t good enough, Sarah?”

“You’re keeping me on a leash!” she snapped. “How is that freedom?”

The goblin king regarded her for a moment in bored silence before producing a crystal in his hand which he tossed gently at Sarah. She caught it instinctively and stared at it, wondering why she didn’t just let it drop and shatter.

“The dining hall is free for your use,” he sighed, pointing straight behind him.  “It is almost always stocked with any assortment of food. Just give the crystal a squeeze whenever you wish to return home, and keep it with you to return here whenever you feel that you are hungry.”

He turned on his heel, walked a few paces before stopping.

“Oh, and Sarah?” He turned slightly to regard her from the corner of his eye. “I won’t warn you again. I have been very generous with you so far. If you continue to push your luck you might get to see just how cruel I can be.”

There was something in his tone that crushed her retort. She stared after him as he disappeared around a corner before shaking her head and heading down to the area he had pointed at, pocketing the crystal.

After walking a few paces, two goblins that only came to her knees shut the castle doors behind her. They seemed to have come from nowhere, but it was a goblin city. One of the two, a mousy looking one with big eyes motioned for Sarah to follow him.

The dining hall wasn’t far from the entrance; just straight down the hallway a few rooms out and to the left. It was quite spacious and filled with food. Sarah would have thought it was all a trick had she not seen others in the room helping themselves to the buffet laid before them. None paid Sarah any mind as she helped herself to a single apple. She bit into it as nonchalantly as she could, but her ravenous hunger exploded within her.

Within a minute or so, the entire apple had been consumed except for the core.

She looked at the core and saw there were no seeds, and started to bite into that as well, except she felt full.

“That’s strange…” she muttered.

“What is, miss Sarah?”

Sarah turned sharply and saw a raven haired, emerald-green eyed human-like girl a little older if not the same age as Sarah. She didn’t look to be fae-like at all, but often times that meant very little.

“I was starving,” Sarah explained to her. “But I feel full after eating just an apple.”

“That’s normal,” the girl said kindly, nodding. “Sarah, right?”

“Yea, how did-?”

“You will be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know you around the labyrinth,” she responded, grinning. “Not just anyone can make it through.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but are you a fae, or a human?” Sarah asked quietly.

“We prefer the term ‘good neighbors’ or just ‘neighbors’ actually,” the girl’s smile faltered a very small bit. “What you see is just a bit of glamor. I didn’t want to frighten you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Sarah said quickly. “I only recently came to understand more about this place.”

The girl held out her hand to Sarah’s.

“Come with me. I don’t want to be overheard,” she whispered, winking.

Sarah took the girl’s hand and the girl led her gently out of the hall, past guards, up stairs, around corners, until finally coming across a room that had a door decorated differently than the rest. The girl waved her hand, and the door opened easily, revealing a bedroom behind it.

The bedroom was roomy even with the amount of assorted trinkets that decorated it. A table by the window which overlooked the kingdom had a silver tray with a teapot and a tea cup. The rounded bed in the corner was huge and thick. It must have been fit for royalty.

“This is the goblin king’s room, isn’t it?” Sarah asked, looking around at the objects she didn’t understand the purpose of. But some of them held those crystals. Sarah looked back at the girl, only to find with a start that she was no longer looking at a girl her age.

The girl had that familiar pointed ears, sharp face, slanted eyes and thin frame. Her eyes were still the same brilliant emerald-green, and her raven-black hair spilled down her shoulders to her waist.

“No guards come in here,” she said, grinning. “It’s perfect for when you don’t want to be overheard. The goblins can be quite nosey at times. I wanted to meet you, Sarah. I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

Sarah felt her cheeks blush.

“I have to say, I am impressed. The bravery required to beat the labyrinth for someone so young. I got to ask, though, why you would wish your brother away to start with?”

“He’s my half-brother,” Sarah responded. Normally she would feel uncomfortable, but something just felt right telling this lady everything. “My mom left me when I was a bit younger, and dad remarried soon after. My stepmother and my dad left me with the baby very often didn’t give me any time to myself. I felt as though I was being treated unfairly, and any time I tried to say anything it turned into an argument where Irene would twist into a story about how awful I was being to my dad. In a spit of rage, one night, I wished my brother Toby away to the goblins. But it wasn’t right. I regretted it, immensely. I had to get him back at any cost.”

Sarah had never actually knew how she felt about it all until she said it aloud. Part of her wondered if the fae before her had used her magic to get Sarah to talk like that. But the other part of her didn’t care. It felt good to get that all off her chest.

“I see,” she said sadly. “That’s terrible. I can see why Jareth took pity on you.”

Sarah took a second to realize the fae had referred to the goblin king so informally.

“Am I allowed to know your name?” Sarah asked suddenly. She didn’t know why she hadn’t asked this earlier.

“You can call me ‘ _Mother_ ,’ If you wish,” she said warmly. “Otherwise,  _ ‘Queen’ _ or ‘your  _ majesty’ _ will do.”


	4. Do Not Offend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the same disclaimers apply. Though, additionally I would like to add an additional disclaimer that Lady Titania and Lord Oberon are based on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, however I decided to take “The Ancient Magus’ Bride” approach to them in this case. This is not a cross-over, however. In TAMB, Tír na nÓg is canonically only in Britian, but in my world I’ve imposed into the Labyrinth, Tír na nÓg is the entire realm of the faeries.
> 
> Please enjoy ~

“Queen…” Sarah repeated, feeling numb. “You’re Jareth’s wife…”

The lady let out the most melodic of laughs, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. Her eyes which were green moments before were now a deep shade of violet.

“No-no, dear Sarah,” she said between her fingers, her green eyes glittering. “I am his mother, High Queen Titania. High King Oberon is my husband,”

Sarah covered her mouth in shock.

“Oh, don’t fret, sweety,” she clasped the wrist Sarah had over her mouth. “But that brings me to the topic I did want to ask you about. Please, sit down.”

Queen Titania indicated a chair next to the room’s fire place not far from the bed. She took the other chair.

“I wanted to ask about Jareth’s proposal to you.”

“His what?” Sarah was still numb from before. She stared at Titania unsure what she was getting at.

“His proposal!” The voice that spoke was not Titania’s clear and melodic voice, but one that sounded incredibly mischievous. Sarah twisted in the seat she had just sat down in and found herself staring at a spectacle. The fae had the most strange appearance Sarah had yet seen, possessing blackish-green soft and very fluffy hair that extended down his back, deer horns and legs complete with hooves. But the most strange part was his childishly mischievous face. The familiar twisted grin only added a little to his mischievous look.

Sarah knew immediately this must be Oberon. Jareth definitely took after them both.

“Oberon, how did you-?” Titania looked at him through narrowed eyes.

“What?” he asked smiling innocently at her.

“Forget it…” Titania stared at him with bored half closed eyes. She shook her head and looked back at Sarah. “Ignoring the interruption. About his proposal.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sarah said, confused. “He never…”

A look passed Titania’s face Sarah didn’t know how to define, but it caused her heart to trip over itself momentarily.

“Don’t forget she is a human, love,” Oberon sang, dancing up to them. He stood behind Sarah, resting a hand upon her shoulder. “You know how they’re like.”

“Oberon. This is  _ precisely _ why I wanted to have this conversation  _ without _ you,” Titania said through gritted teeth, her eyes shut as if it would make him disappear.

“Awe, don’t be like that! You know I’m right!”

Titania stood up and turned to leave, looking gently at Sarah.

“Please consider my son’s proposal,” she said. Then she left.

Oberon hopped into the seat she had vacated and pleated his fingers, staring at her with his golden, gleeful eyes.

“You are still confused?”

“Yes… A bit.”

Sarah stared at him, unsure of what to say. He crossed one deer leg over the other, entwining his fingers together under his nose.

“Maybe I can help,” Oberon offered. “My son has fallen for you. Normally, neighbors having relationships with humans are temporary affairs. However, there are rare exceptions which are considered taboo, such as this case.”

He paused a moment, looking at Sarah as if he expected questions. When none came, he continued on.

“For us, love is servitude. The moment I fell for Titania was the moment my heart was enslaved by her. She may not show it, but it is the same for her. It also comes with the bonding of fates. Our fate becomes so entwined with one another that her death would cause mine in that very instant. Thus the taboo. This is currently the case for Jareth.”

Sarah’s eyes widened in realization. Jareth’s words to her that night a month or so ago rang in her ears as if he were in front of her again.

“ _ I ask for so little. Let me rule you and you can have whatever you want… Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave. _ ”

The connotation of what he said to her suddenly made sense. She covered her mouth in shock. That whole time, she thought he was just trying to trick her so he could keep her brother.

“You have eaten the fruit from our land, and are doomed.” Oberon went on. His smile had widened. “Only two outcomes exist for you: You accept my son’s proposal and all it implies, and stay here and become a neighbor yourself, as is the nature of this realm. Or refuse, returning to your mortal world and perish from starvation.”

Sarah subconsciously felt for the crystal Jareth had given her. She became suddenly aware of the fact it was gone.

“Looking for this?” His grin, still so mischievous, seemed alarmingly malicious now as he held the crystal he somehow nicked from her without her  notice. He balanced it on the tip of his finger, looking at it in wonder as he rested his cheek on his other hand, propped against the arm of the chair. “You see… My son is a bit of a soft hearted fool for you. He would let you have whatever pleased you, even if it meant his own demise.”

The door opened then, and Titania came striding back in, this time under guard by a pair of large wolves, and Jareth was behind her, looking furious. Sarah fought the sudden urge to run to him though she didn’t understand why she felt that way. His eyes fell on her for a moment and Sarah realized she had moved as if to run toward him.

“Oh my, am I in trouble?” Oberon asked gleefully, dropping the crystal from the tip of his finger into his hand, clutching it with his elongated fingers.

“Husband, quit your meddling,” Titania snapped.

“Meddling? I was doing nothing of the like!” Oberon faked offense, smiling at her. “I was simply having a discussion with our daughter-to-be.”

“Come, we have work to do.” Titania waved her hand impatiently for him to follow and she turned to leave. He got up and trotted after his wife, smiling innocently. As the door closed behind him, he spared a last glance at Sarah, that same menacing grin from before on his face.

“What did he say?!” Jareth rounded on Sarah, as if she were to blame for their sudden appearance.

“What? I- nothing.”

“Nothing,” he repeated, staring hard at her. He strode over to her and clasped the arms of the chair she was sitting in, staring hard into her green eyes. “Really? Then tell me why there are tears running down your face?”

Where there? Sarah wiped her face and found her cheeks to be wet. She must have been so numb after that interaction she hadn’t noticed.

“I didn’t know!” Sarah hadn’t meant to shout, but emotion she didn’t know she had or understood bubbled up for release. It startled him, causing him to back off a step, straightening. “I don’t know…” she rephrased, covering her face. “I don’t know anything anymore. I don’t understand. I didn’t know…”

“Sarah, you’re not making any sense.” Jareth’s tone was soft. She looked up at him as he moved to crouch in front of her, his expression was soft, but there was something else glittering in his eyes Sarah recognized from some of their previous interactions that made her feel almost peaceful. “What all was said?”

She told him everything starting from meeting Titania in the dining hall. It didn’t take her very long. But when she reached the part where Oberon talked to her, she stopped. Jareth was still looking up into her eyes from his crouched position. When she hesitated to continue, he tilted his head to the side.

Sarah took a deep, calming breath and closed her eyes.

When she finished talking about what Oberon said, Jareth’s expression became rigid.

“It’s… All very confusing,” she said finally. “I think maybe it might help if I understood everything from your point of view…”

Jareth considered her for a moment. He produced another crystal in his hand and offered it to her.

“If that’s what you want,” he said quietly. “Take this and look into it, and it will show you.”

Gingerly, she accepted the crystal and looked into it. The texture was so smooth and no matter how often she touched it, it seemed to stay unblemished where normal glass would start showing fingerprints and smudges. Something swelled within it.

Jareth’s gloved hand covered it and her hand a moment, clasping both together, and he leaned in before Sarah knew what he was doing and pressed his lips to hers.

Everything went suddenly black.


	5. The Fae King’s Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimers as before.
> 
> Except much more emphasized... This chapter is a long one. I tried to shorten it as much as possible, but I needed to get this part as close as I could.
> 
> Time to see through Jareth’s eyes.
> 
> I was in total trance mode writing all this. Please enjoy.~

There was nothing. No feelings, nor memories. Just blackness. Sarah. Had that been her name? She struggled to remember, but soon that faded away, too. Was this death?

The consciousness that no longer had a name moved forward. The darkness became cold, and then there wasn’t darkness anymore. It was a stormy afternoon, and the consciousness finally understood itself, and with it came memories.

His name was Jareth. He was king of the goblins. He had taken the form of an owl in the mortal realm to get away from his kingly duties. The chores, the bickering, his siblings, his parents, and the goblins.

He landed in a park and peered around. He loved to toy with humans, especially when he was feeling so annoyed and temperamental. He enjoyed flying around the mortal realm. It was refreshing.

The park was mostly abandoned except for a little girl who seemed to be around ten years old and her mother sitting on a park bench. The child had seen him first.

“Look, Mom!” she tugged at her mother’s sleeve. “An owl!”

“Sarah, please stop distracting me. I have to memorize these lines before Jeremy gets here…” she pushed her daughter’s hands off her shirt. “Why don’t you go play with the owl?”

Gleefully, Sarah ran up excitedly, but slowed to a walk some paces away before stopping next to his perch. He regarded her carefully.

“Mr. Owl.” she stared innocently up at him and curtsied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sarah.”

Jareth looked up to see a man approaching the mother. The mother never referred to him as Sarah’s father in that brief exchange and yet they embraced like a couple.

“I have everything ready,” the man named Jeremy said. “Are you still ready to do this?”

“Yes, Jeremy. Let’s run away together, leave this wretched place behind…”

Sarah turned to see what her mother was doing. She didn’t seem surprised, or disturbed by it. She couldn’t have heard their exchange. Her mother looked over to her after breaking from their embrace.

“Stay here, Sarah. I’ll be back!” she called.

But they wouldn’t be.

Jareth could be cruel, perhaps, like his own father he enjoyed teasing the mortals a bit. But he was not wicked. Nor could he stand those that were.

Even if someone wished a child away to Tí na nÓg, he’d give them a chance to rescue their loved one. There was always the occasional wicked human who left their child to become a goblin. Those children were way better off. There was plenty of food, plenty of things to do, and Jareth did everything in his power to take good care of them.

Disgruntled, he decided to instead watch over the girl. If none returned for her, he determined he would take her to his castle. She was a little past the age where she would become a goblin. Perhaps a dryad or a nymph. It all depended on her personality.

Far into the night, Jareth played with little Sarah. At first playing hide and seek, then bringing her objects like pebbles. She seemed absolutely delighted with the attention from her animal friend.

Jareth was in the process of deciding that he should take her to his castle with him, when suddenly a man’s voice called out from the other side of the park.

“Sarah!”

“Daddy?!” She got up and ran off.

“Sarah, what are you doing out here? Where’s your mother?!”

“She went to practice with Jeremy. She said she’d come back and wanted me to wait here.”

“... Come on… Let’s go home.” Her dad took her by the hand and led her over a bridge that sat above a creek. Jareth took off from where he perched to follow them.

“But mom-.”

“Isn’t coming back, Sarah. Look it’s cold out, you going to get sick.”

Jareth followed them all the way to their home. It was a nice little two story house, with a couple trees. He landed in the one closest to where they were, where the window was cracked open, and peered inside. He sent her upstairs to go to bed before he played a voicemail message. Sarah stopped at the top of the stairs, unnoticed by her dad.

“Robert? It’s Linda… I know you went out with that bitch Irene again. I’m  _ sick  _ of it!” The mother’s voice rang out, between tears. “So I’m leaving. The divorce papers I had prepared are on your bed already signed with a number to my lawyer who will handle everything else. I’ve already taken the money I’ve earned from my performances out from the bank, so everything else is yours. I’m just going to start fresh and new with Jeremy. Goodbye. Forever.”

He deleted the message and the house got quiet.

A couple years passed. Jareth found himself in the park again. He had been visiting the little girl for a while now. Once every day at least. Her father seemed to care enough for her so Jareth never felt the need to take her. But still, he cared for the girl.

Jareth brought her a pebble he had found in the creek that glittered in the light.

“Thank you, Mr. Owl. That’s very kind of you. I wish I had something to give to you in return,” Sarah said gently. She was a little older. Thirteen, or something like that.

She absentmindedly stroked his feathers and he chirped happily in response.

“It’s been two years since mom left…” she muttered. “Why doesn’t she just call me? Even just to check up on me? Dad’s always so busy with  _ Karen _ … That’s her real name, you know. She hates being called Karen and wanted me to call her Irene. She’s not very nice, though... You and my dog Merlin are the only ones I think actually care, Mr. Owl…”

The following years after, Jareth spent less and less time with Sarah. He had duties to take care of in the castle, after all. 

Everytime he returned, Sarah was a little older, a little wiser, and a little sadder. Karen, as she referred to Irene, got married to her father. Then things went south pretty quickly for Sarah. She stopped paying attention to reality and started living in her fantasy worlds she dreamt up.

“I wish faeries were real,” she’d tell Jareth. “I’d ask them to take me to their world instead. I wish I could become a faerie…”

Jareth wished she could, too.

She had just turned fifteen when her little brother was born. Toby. She told Jareth about how spoiled Toby was, how unfair Karen was, how her Dad never paid attention to her. She blamed all of her feelings she was never meant to feel, all of her problems she was never meant to face upon that little brother of hers.

Jareth began to see that innocent girl disappear. Hidden away behind out-of-control emotions. It was inevitable she would say or do something she would regret, and Jareth knew it.

Fifteen, going on sixteen was when it happened. It was a rainy afternoon as Jareth was observing another argument between her and her stepmother beginning to brew. But Sarah looked herself in her room again.

He studied her, as she play-acted her most recent fascination at her own reflection. A story called “the Labyrinth.” It must have been written by a novelist who remembered their time rescuing their child, because it seemed to be about Jareth’s test and his realm.

She placed a crown on her head.

That’s when Jareth understood why he was so obsessed with this child. He had fallen for her. But she was still so young. So childish. And here she was putting on make-up and trying to look like a princess. She wiped it off not long after when her dad interrupted her. They were leaving again for another date.

Fed up with it all, she dramatically play-acted her own brother’s kidnapping, like in the story, but twisted the story slightly as she recited it, speaking about her brother, instead of the son. And that the goblin king in the story was in love with the protagonist. As he listened through the patio door, the rainstorm became a thunderstorm,

She was more right than she realized, Jareth mused to himself.

“Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be! Take this child of mine far away from me!”

He was impressed with the performance, but there was definitely a catch in her tone as she lowered her crying brother, Toby, back into his crib.

“Oh I wish I really did know what to say to make them take you.”

Jareth became tense as he realized where this was going.  _ No. _ She left for the door, but turned before she crossed the threshold.

“I wish the goblins would take you away,” she said angrily, snapping the lights off. “Right now.”

Jareth could have stopped the goblins from stealing the child, but he did not. If Sarah needed to learn just like everyone else then so be it. She returned to the room as soon as the crying from Toby had stopped. 

“Toby?” She asked, flipping the lights. “Why aren’t you crying?” The lights didn’t respond to the switch. She checked his crib and as she did so Jareth leaned forward, and in a crack of thunder, he had smacked the patio door, startling her.

He glared at her angrily as she stared at him, terrified. The remaining goblins in the room were starting to toy with her, staying out of sight but making noise, catching her attention. He kicked the door open and flew at her, letting out his barn owl screech. She screamed and protected her head, as he smacked her a few times with his wings. Her eyes still covered, he landed and became himself. He didn’t bother with further glamor like he did usually with other humans.

When she lowered her arms and finally saw him, her eyes widened in combined terror and awe.

“You’re  _ him, _ aren't you? You’re the Goblin King…” she said. The last syllable broke, as she finally realized what this meant, and it made Jareth smile in response. He was pleased she was catching on so quickly. “I’d like my brother back if it’s all the same.”

“What’s said is said,” he explained.

“But I didn’t mean it!” Her voice trembled as she began to cry.

“Oh, you didn’t?” he asked rhetorically. 

“Please, where is he?” she begged.

“Smart girl. Don’t lie to me,” he thought. Aloud, he said, “You know very well where he is.”

“Please bring him back,” she pleaded desperately, stepping forward. “Please.”

“Sarah,” he said softy. Jareth looked at her for a moment and stepped closer to her slowly, regarding her gently. “Go back to your room and play with your toys and your costumes. Forget about the baby.”

“I can’t.” She wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face.

“I’ve brought you a gift.” Jareth produced a crystal in his hand and offered it to Sarah.

“What is it?” She looked at it for a moment, but then looked back at him, unsure.

“It’s a crystal, nothing more,” he said plainly, regarding it. He started to play with it. “But if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams. But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby.” She seemed distractedly mesmerized by the way he handled the crystal ball until he mentioned the screaming baby. Her eyes turned on him, hardened in a determined way he’d never seen before in her. He almost forgot he was supposed to be convincing her away. “Do you want it?” She looked at the crystal silently. “Then forget the baby.”

A moment passed. She seemed to be deliberating, her eyes staring determinedly, but tinged yet again with fear. What was going on in her head?

“I can’t,” she said finally. “It isn’t that I don’t appreciate what you’re trying to do for me, but I want my brother back. He must be so scared.”

She was getting bolder. Purposefully testing his patience, and he didn’t like that.

“Sarah,” Jareth warned, lifting up the crystal. It became a snake in his palm, coiling around his fingers. Her expression betrayed her instinctive fear. “Don’t defy me.”

He threw the snake at her neck, where it became a scarf. In that instant, she screamed and threw it off of her, where a goblin caught it and ran off laughing. The other goblins laughed along until she turned around. They hid immediately.

“You’re no match for me, Sarah,” Jareth said simply. 

“But I have to have my brother back!” she pushed.

Jareth closed his eyes and shook his head, stepping back. Fine. If she wants to go back to being a miserable mess, then so be it. He opened a gate to Tír na nÓg behind him where the patio door was a moment before as he walked to the side.

“He’s there. In my castle,” he said pointing. She walked through the portal immediately. Dawn was just breaking over his kingdom, and it lit up the castle, and its labyrinth, as if inviting her in. He followed her through. “Do you still want to look for him?”

The breeze was lifting her hair, ruffling her clothes as she stared in wonder at his domain.

“Is that the castle beyond the goblin city?” She turned to ask him.

“Turn back Sarah.” He pointed at the gateway that was still open. “Turn back before it’s too late.”

“I can’t,” she pleaded. “Don’t you see that I can't?”

“What a pity…” he muttered, shutting the gate. If only she knew how difficult this labyrinth was. Her determination was new but her spirit was still weakened from the rough years she’s had. Jareth found himself worrying for her. She turned back to face the labyrinth, biting her lip.

“It doesn’t look that far,” she said to herself. Was she trying to convince herself? He stepped up behind her, and leaned down to look at the angle she was seeing it from.

“It’s further than you think,” he said, startling her. He looked at her, blankly. “And time is short.” He stepped back and pointed a clock he summoned. “You have thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us forever.” He disappeared with the clock. 

Sarah turned to face the stone walls with her newfound determination.

“…. such a pity,” he added, sadly, materializing in the throne room. All the goblins celebrated his return loudly. Jareth ignored them for a moment, peering out over the labyrinth.

“Sire?” One of the little ones came up to him and tugged on his pants leg. He tore his attention away from the distance to look down at the goblin. “Did she decide to run it?”

He looked up at the attendees in the room, all staring at him under bated breath. These weren’t just any goblins. Every single one of them that were inside the throne room had been human children at one point of time. He felt for them, and took care of them, personally. Toby would become one of them. It also reminded him that very few runners ever survived thirteen hours, let alone made it to the castle on time.

“Yes, she is running it,” he responded turning to face the window for another moment. The goblins behind him cheered.

“Do you hear that, little brother?” Jareth heard one ask the baby. “You might get to go home!”

Everyone fell silent as Jareth turned to face the speaker. He approached him and crouched, looking at him intently.

“Could it be that you feel unhappy here?” he asked quietly.

“No, sire,” the goblin shook in terror. Many backed away from him. It was very rare that Jareth ever turned his ire upon these precious goblins he considered his children.  “I just felt that little brother was wished away from what looked like a happy home. Except for that bratty sist-.”

Jareth stood up, cutting him off. He could feel his temper flaring to dangerous levels.

“You do not know her, and nor do you know the parents!” Jareth’s voice boomed angrily. The goblins cowarded before him. Even Toby started crying. “As I recall, you were well off with all the toys and money you could ever want, but your parents still wished you away to me. And seemed happy enough that I had taken you. The way things first seem are not always how they are. Do remember that.”

“Y-yes sire!” he stammered, falling to his knees. “Pl-please forgive m-me!”

“You are forgiven.” Jareth looked at the baby who was now wailing at the top of his lungs. “Now take care of our little brother before he destroys that wonderful set of lungs he has on him.”

“Yes, of course, sire.”

Jareth turned to walk to his throne and sit upon it, pulling out a crystal. As the throne room returned to normal chatter and noise besides the crying Toby, he sought for Sarah. Where was she?

She was running down a pathway. She’d already passed the way she was supposed to go. All she had to do was walk straight out of the gate, but instead she trusted her eyes.

“She’s not very observant, is she?” Jareth wondered. He watched her smack the walls in a temper tantrum then slump down in defeat. “Oh come now, Sarah. It’s far too early to give up now…” he opened a portal up on the external wall, which would take her to the straight away path she should have taken in the beginning. The crystal swirled and a view of a kitchen appeared. Two blue wyrms were chatting while the lady boiled a kettle of tea.

“Wyrm, make sure the girl outside your house goes through that doorway, would you please?”

“Oh, right away, sire,” he rushed out quickly.

“Would you like some tea, your highness?” The lady wyrm asked gently. She couldn’t see him, but this was something all inhabitants seemed accustomed to.

“No, thank you,” he responded warmly. “Not this time.”

“Very well, sire. You are more than welcome to come by anytime, just let us know ahead of time and I’ll put the kettle on.”

He smiled and switched view to watch Sarah turn the wrong way.

“I told her not to go that way. If she would have kept going that way, she would have gone straight to that castle.”

Jareth groaned internally and began to micromanage to labyrinth impatiently. Any time she took a wrong turn, he made sure it led to a dead end, rather than a trap. He led until she started going in circles, making his attempts to help her pointless. He got quickly frustrated.

“Oh, don’t you think you’re being clever,” he hissed. He put the crystal down and tapped his boot impatiently. Covering his face, then his mouth, he looked at the clock. Had it really been three hours? He looked at the goblins goofing around. The baby was still crying uncomfortably.

Jareth got up with a sigh and frowned. Toby looked like the kind who would appreciate music so Jareth started singing. It was a tune the whole room was familiar with, and they joined in excitedly. It was upbeat, and lighthearted. And sure enough, the magic of the music calmed little Toby down. Even cracked one of those adorable baby giggles. Jareth continued singing, picking Toby up and danced with him. Satisfied, and finally comfortable, Toby clung to the goblin king’s shirt. He sat with him in the throne.

“In nine hours and twenty three minutes, you’ll be mine,” he told Toby.

He pulled the crystal back out and glanced at it. The smile drained from his face. She had lipstick and was marking the bricks where she was going, getting herself increasingly more lost because the inhabitants who lived there would go behind her and turn the blocks around.

“Fool,” he muttered as she seemed to pick up on it.

“What a horrible place this is, it’s not fair!” Sarah’s voice rang out from the crystal.

He moved the doors so they were behind her, then when she moved into the dead end, he locked her in. There. Now she had no choice but to go to the castle. Surely this puzzle would be easy for her. Logic puzzles were something she seemed she would be good at.

“Would he tell me that this door leads to the castle?”

“Yes?”

Jareth groaned and covered his face. Those idiots… The one who gave the rules would have been the truth teller, so the red one should have said no. Runners who reached them were few and far between. He couldn’t expect them to be 100% on the script, so just shook his head when Sarah fell down the hole full of helping hands.

His crystal changed its view on his whim and brought up the dwarf who was the gatekeeper and one of the caretakers of the outer ring.

“Hog,” he called out. The knobby beardless fae started, and cowared. “Head out to the helping hand pit and lead her back to the beginning. This labyrinth isn’t the place for her… She’ll never make it.” it’s too dangerous, he added silently.

“Yes, sire. And it’s Hoggle.”

“Did he just correct me?” Jareth stared at the image of the dwarf.

He set Toby down and realized everyone was in the room was starting to watch. He summoned Sarah’s view again and took a moment to understand what was going on.

She decided herself to go down rather than take the option of going up.

“You stupid girl,” Jareth hissed. “She’s in the oubliette.” The goblins began to laugh. “Shut up,” he snapped. “she should have given up by now.”

“She’ll never give up,” one of the little ones said. Many agreed with him.

“Won’t she?” He shook his head. “The dwarf is about to lead her back to the beginning. She’ll soon give up when she learns she had to start all over again,” he laughed, then stopped. Where they rooting for her? “Well, laugh.”

They started laughing.

Jareth did his best to get the girl to give up. He even went in person to visit her, after discovering the dwarf had agreed to instead help her. He found he was impressed with her apparent ability to recruit his own subjects out from under him. Or angry that the dwarf was so easily swayed. He couldn’t tell himself. He started calling Hoggle every name but Hoggle at every opportunity he could take, just to be spiteful.

Sarah challenged him, calling the labyrinth a piece of cake, which irritated the goblin king immensely. He’d helped her the whole way, and now she’s acting as if she’s the smartest one of the lot. He took time away from her, then summoned the cleaners.

When he returned to the castle, he picked the ball up in time to overhear Hoggle scream at her.

“The cleaners, the bog of stench! You sure got his attention.”

The room waited, holding their breath collectively, but Jareth saw Sarah go for the door for the ladder. He pursed his lips together.

He got up and retired to his bedroom, beginning to pace in his bedroom. He needed a way. Something different. Maybe he could keep them both from going back to that messed up home of theirs. Sarah wouldn’t agree to it. She’s fought him at every turn she could manage.

A forget potion. He snapped his gloves together. That would work. He ported to Hoggle who had run off from her and forced his hand. He gave Hoggle a peach to hand to her. It was a bit more difficult than Jareth would have liked. Apparently the dwarf had fallen for the girl.

When Jareth returned to watch from his crystal, his face was still twitching.

“She’s resourceful at least.” He found himself admiring her. “Maybe she had grown from this adventure of hers.”

Jareth released a few crystals to lock her in a fantasy ball when she finally at the peach. Then he entered as well to observe the progress.

People dancing, swirling, laughing, smoking, jeering all in colorful and decorative masks. A few had noticed her, and pointed at her and started whispering and laughing..

She gently walked through and between crowds, looking around. As if she felt his eyes on her she turned to stare at Jareth. He lowered his mask, as transfixed by her as she was of him. This was her when she was older, of course. She was no longer fifteen in this bubble, but ageless. Immortal. Jareth’s breath caught in his throat. She was a fae.

Her features were slightly sharper and those big green eyes of hers, so strange yet so interestingly familiar, captured his attention like no other. He felt frozen in place, a feeling Jareth had never felt before rising in his chest as color burned in Sarah’s cheeks. A dancer broke their line of sight with each other and Jareth moved swiftly out of the way, breathing heavily. He peeked around the group of dancers he had hid behind.

She had went looking for him. Some of the others were staring as she passed, a few even asked her to dance, but she payed them little attention. Jareth was all she had eyes for, if only she could find him again.

He followed her, staying out of sight, wondering if she would give up and look for someone else to dance with. When he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he couldn’t help but laugh. She stood above the dance floor and looked around at the other dancers, looking clearly upset. When she turned around that time, Jareth did not disappear. He approached her slowly, a look crossing his features that seemed to melt Sarah away. And then suddenly they were dancing, floating. A feeling of elation rose once again in his chest as they twirled onto the center of the dance floor.

He wanted this. His heart yearned for her to chose this, however. He started singing a spell to her to the tune of the music, breaking down the potion working in her system.

Familiarity flashed in her eyes.

“Jareth…” she said. His heart ached again.

A frown creased his features and he stopped their dancing, his eyes staring into her own. Had they gotten closer? He had lowered her hand slowly, and pressed her closer. With the suddenly free hand, she placed her palm against his chest. His free hand hooked a finger beneath her chin and their lips met.

Nearly immediately, her knees gave out a moment, and she became entirely supported upon by Jareth.

They broke away slowly and he held her, swaying gently to the music. Everything felt right for the moment, and Jareth committed this to memory, cherishing every bit of it. Part of him thought this would be the only time he would get to see her like this, or for her to be in love with him in this way.

But it had to be natural or it wouldn’t feel right. He wouldn’t forgive himself. The potion was starting to wear off, as became evident by Sarah’s increasing anxiety and fidgeting. He selfishly wanted more to this moment, but then a clock chimed.

As if that triggered the complete break down of the potion, Sarah pushed off of him and escaped.

Jareth tore himself away from the scene and leaned back against his window, back where he was before. He closed his eyes, still feeling heady from the way she had just melted into him.

It wouldn’t be long before she reached the castle now, as he had deposited her right outside. He went to grab Toby, knowing full well it would likely be the last he saw of him. She would break his heart. And he knew nothing he said or did now would stop that.

But everything went black again, as Jareth… no… As Sarah fought to return to her own consciousness. She had to get back to her own body at the moment where she was. Every part of her existence screamed in realization.


	6. A Blessing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimers as before.
> 
> Also!!! A huge T H A N K Y O U for those of you who like this story as much as I like writing it! x3
> 
> Please enjoy. ~

Jareth’s lips were still on hers when she returned to awareness in her own head. It seemed so long ago. Part of her was still unsure if she was Sarah, or Jareth, and she pushed him away gently with her hand. He did not resist. He stood up and took a step away.

For a moment she thought she was looking in a mirror, and she felt dizzy as her brain reoriented itself. Jareth stared at her, questioningly. His blue and black eyes switching between her own slowly, as if searching for the answer to his silent questions in either.

How long had they been like that? It felt like years had passed. Certainly days. She closed her eyes and pressed a palm to her face. She was Sarah Williams, and yet she was also Jareth, somehow.

“What did you do?” she asked him. Herself? Hisself? She clenched the crystal in her hand.

“Just take a moment. The disorientation will pass,” he said carefully. She felt his bare fingers against her cheeks. She opened her eyes to see what he was up to, and lowered her palm. He looked as though he was concentrating, then he slid his fingers back, pressing his palms against her cheek very lightly. The touch sent shivers and a feeling as if a cold liquid was traveling up her scalp. But his hands felt soft and warm. The feeling spread from her scalp down her spine and finally the spinning stopped.

“Thank you,” she said as he dropped his hands to his sides.

The fae male before her seemed a lot different when she considered what she’d seen. When before, she viewed him as a villain who sought to kidnap children, now she realized she was wrong.

But could that have been a trick? She didn’t think so. It could have been, but Sarah thought about how little she’d actually seen him interact with his subjects on her own.

This brought her to the words Oberon had said.

_ “Only two outcomes exist for you: You accept my son’s proposal and all it implies, and stay here and become a neighbor yourself, as is the nature of this realm. Or refuse, returning to your mortal world and perish from starvation.” _

“He never gave me a choice, did he?” Sarah thought to herself.

She considered that proposal that felt as though it were so long ago. A fae love was different than humans. Humankind's love was fleeting, temporary, and superficial by comparison. Fae love bound them just by simply it being meant to be. Fates destined to be intertwined from the moment their individual fate was realized. Hopelessly in love forever.

But Sarah wasn’t Fae. If Jareth just released her like her fae book said, she’d be able to go back and…

Why did she ever want to go back, anyway?

Sarah frowned then looked up at Jareth. His eyes were guarded, his expression blank. Sarah remembered when she had rejected him carelessly, not realizing just what it was he had meant. What she traded for a return to a life of the misery she was barely content with.

It was all she knew. Was that what it was to be human? Could she really just throw that away and become a fae and live here?

What was the right thing to do here?  _ Listen to your heart,  _ right? Well. What  _ did  _ her heart say?

Sarah could have probably fought hand tooth and nail for her humanity, but here she felt she would be truly happy and at home. This was where all her friends were. So even if this was all a trick, this decision was all Sarah’s to make. And she decided she would stay.

Besides, she could probably be allowed to visit home if she wanted to, right?

It was decided, then.

Standing up, she deposited the crystal onto the side table beside the chair. Jareth made to take a step back, but she took hold of his collar with both hands. His eyes widened as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. He grabbed her upper arms, and Sarah backed off, her cheeks burning from the implied rejection. But he did not push her away. He looked deeply into her green eyes, and she in his.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked her carefully.

“Even if the High King of the Fae threatened me and gave me no choice, if I had wanted to go back I would have at least said so, and would have probably whined about how unfair it was and made it plenty obvious…” Sarah responded in amusement. He didn’t seem to find it funny, so she elaborated. “Yes, I’m sure.”

More came to her to say, so when he started to move in she pressed a finger to his lips.

“A warning, though… If I find out this has all been an elaborate trick of some kind, I’ll find a way to send  _ you _ to the Bog of Eternal Stench…” Sarah smiled up at him as innocently as she could, placing both of her palms against his chest.

“What if I send you there first?” he asked mischievously, a wry grin twisting his mouth.

“Then I’ll make sure to dip my shoe in it and throw it upon you.”

“And if I make it so that you cannot leave?” His eyes were glittering.

“I have made many friends here, Jareth. I will-.”

He interrupted her. At the sound of his name spoken by her, he leaned into her and pressed his lips to hers. Sliding his hands roughly around her back, he pressed her to him as he kissed her passionately.

There was a noise, somewhere, and Jareth broke the kiss off with a jerk. Sarah’s head was swimming, so she laid her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes to steady herself. Her cheeks were red.

“Oh!” said a voice Sarah recognized distantly. “I’m sorry, am I interrupting?”

“Is it important?” The sound of Jareth’s voice reverberated all throughout his chest cavity, making the deeper tones sound louder. Sarah found that it made her feel relaxed.

“To some degree, yes.” Sarah frowned and turned her head to look at the speaker. It was High Queen Titania. Of course, only mere moments had passed since she had left with her husband Oberon.

“Then, please.” Jareth gestured to the opposite seat Sarah had been in not too long before. He stepped back, much to Sarah’s discomfort, but his hands slid down to her hips as he sat down. He twisted her and pulled her into his lap gently.

Sarah relaxed against him, but part of her wondered why this was necessary. The other part of her responded with a “who cares?”

“I was hoping to continue the conversation my husband rudely interrupted earlier,” Titania said, sitting down in the opposing seat. “Preferably alone but, of course, if you insist upon his presence?”

Titania’s violet eyes were upon Sarah’s green ones in a way that reminded Sarah of the way her own mother used to look at her.

“It’s okay,” Sarah said lightly.

“I’m assuming you’ve talked the proposal out?”

“Your Majesty, I don’t mean to sound… well ignorant,” Sarah struggled to find the words to best lighten the subject, she ran her tongue across her lips subconsciously, feeling a little uncomfortably stressed. “But I meant to ask.. why this is being rushed?”

“Are you familiar with soul bonding?” Titania asked, looking at her carefully. When she saw no familiarity to the term light up Sarah’s face, she continued. “Undoubtedly, Oberon presented you with a general idea. And why it is so taboo for one of us to bind themselves to a human.”

“It wasn’t intentional,” Sarah blurted out before she could stop herself. She added, “Was it?” after seeing Titania’s eyes widen.

“No…” she responded slowly. “It never is. But Jareth is a king, so accidental or not, this must be corrected.”

Jareth must have opened his mouth to say something, because she flicked her eyes to glare at him, raising her hand in gesture to silence him. Sarah stared at her hands. She had three fingers instead of four. She looked at Jareth’s. So did he. How did she not notice this before?

“Do you understand?” she continued, her voice was pleading. Sarah looked away slightly before turning back to the Queen.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand to its full extent,” Sarah admitted. “However, I do understand that for me to refuse means going back and dooming Jareth to a short life. Would there be no way to break it even if that were to happen?”

Jareth grew tense. Sarah realized she must be sounding like she was backing out. She reached out and clasped his hand that rested on the armchair, hoping the gesture would be understood.

“No,” Titania responded truthfully. “A bond is destined so no amount of magic is able to sever it. We had tried in the past and it proved fatal for both parties.”

Sarah chewed her lip.

“It is my intention to accept,” Sarah said finally.

Titania visibly relaxed, pressing a hand to her chest as if this whole ordeal had stressed her greatly. Jareth shifted, but remained stiff as though something still bothered him. Sarah turned to shoot him a questioning look, but was shocked to find him looking worried.

“Then there is another matter,” Titania added. “Your current age.”

“I’m old enough to make my own decisions, and I’m perfectly capable of doing so,” Sarah said haughtily, turning to Titania.

Titania broke out into peals of bell-like melodic laughter. Sarah turned to Jareth when he slid his hand out from under hers and covered his face. He appeared to be trying not to laugh. Sarah’s face heated in embarrassment. What was so funny?

It took Titania a few seconds to calm down.

“My dear, sweet Sarah,” she said breathlessly, wiping tears from her eyes. “Even in your world, in Britian, you are absolutely correct about that. However,” she took a moment to settle her giggles. “However I mean your age as of now may present an issue in turning.”

“In becoming a… neighbor?”

“Yes. You see, children have little issue. They are young, undeveloped, innocent, and malleable.” Titania twisted slightly in her seat to cross her legs. “Someone so close to adulthood may have a lot more trouble.”

“What is the worst that could happen in this case?” Sarah asked, worriedly.

“The type of fae you become will instead be based upon your personality,” Jareth intercepted, clasping his hand upon her arm.

“So…” Sarah was hit with a horrid thought. “I could become a troll.”

“Your friend Ludo is a troll,” Jareth responded coolly. He wasn’t the only one who seemed to have taken offense. Titania’s face had lost the mirth from earlier.

“I…” Sarah shook her head. Dummy, what were you thinking…? Of course that was insensitive. She sighed.

“Though, if you become a dwarf, I might be a bit put-off,” Jareth added, shrugging one shoulder.

“ _ Jareth! _ ” Titania snapped at her son. He grinned in response. She shook her head and lamented, “you are your father’s son…”

“I suppose,” Sarah continued dropping her gaze to the floor, ignoring them both. “I suppose I am worried that if I’m not pretty enough, Jareth might want to find someone else to be his queen.”

Everything became very still.

Even Sarah had found it strange that she said it. Was she really this vain? She had no idea she felt so jealous over Jareth already but the idea by itself stung her.

“No, no, no,” Jareth repeated angrily, letting go of Sarah’s arm. “Absolutely, unequivocally out of the question.”

Sarah started to turn her head to look at Jareth in shock.

“Son, listen.”

“Abso _ lutely _ not!”

“You’re being irrational,” Titania said quietly.

“ _ No _ , I am  _ not _ ,” he snapped. “I do not play these political games. I never have, and I never will.”

“ _ Be silent! _ ” Titania’s face became distorted and her eyes flashed a crimson red as she raised her voice. She stood up. “As High Queen of Tín na nÓg, it is my duty and mine alone to determine who will be ruling a kingdom and who will not.”

Jareth’s other hand slid over Sarah’s face, covering her eyes.

“Be that as it may,” Jareth hissed between his teeth. “As king of the goblins, it is one my duties to find a suitable queen. And I will challenge that you will be hard pressed to find any more suitable than Sarah.”

“So he is on my side?” Sarah thought to herself quietly. She felt rather confused.

“ _ Really? _ ” Titania’s voice had become terrifying. As if multiple bodies spoke with her. “Why do you think that?”

“The moment she stepped foot in this labyrinth, all manner of its inhabitants rose to her aide. The moment she left, it was if the entire labyrinth itself had lost its heart. When she returned, the labyrinth seemed to come back alive, everyone felt it. It responds to her. Many of my subjects love her already, and she seems to adore them.”

“What of Lady Maeve?” Titania’s voice was no longer sounding as if she had a demonic chorus behind her. 

“I’m sure if you were to actually speak to her, you would find that she would not wish to set another foot in this place.” Jareth said coldly.

“Only because you pushed her into that nasty bog of yours!”

“She did not seem very fond of the goblins that reside in  _ my kingdom _ and sought to kick them all out,” he said, shrugging. “I was not the one to push her in.  _ Nor _ did I order it.”

“You didn’t stop it.”

“Correct.”

“ _ Jareth _ .”

“Had I stepped in to intervene there would have been an uprising. So I didn’t.” Jareth’s voice sounded as if he were smiling.

Titania sighed and sat down. Jareth’s hand dropped from Sarah’s face onto her lap. Finally able to see, Sarah looked around.

Titania was sitting, once again cross-legged, with a hand upon her face, pinching her brow together. Her sharp elf-like ears were drooping slightly, her hair looking windswept. Her skin seemed slightly grayish as well. Sarah looked at Jareth and was startled to see his normally blue and black eyes were both crimson red. But when they looked up at Sarah, they slowly shifted back to their usual color.

“She can’t be queen,” Titania said finally. Her voice was strained and tired. “She knows nothing of the courts or what it is to be royalty.”

“She can learn,” Jareth said quietly, still looking into Sarah’s eyes. He smiled at her.

“If it’s of any help,” Sarah said shyly, turning towards Titania who had moved to stare at her, with her hand over her mouth in thought. “I’ve read many books of Tír na nÓg as a child. Many of them are likely just fantasy, but there must be some truth to them somewhere.”

Titania shook her head exasperatedly.

“Is this really what you want?” she asked Jareth.

“Yes, mother.”

“Fine. You have my blessing,” she said as she clutched her forehead, looking stressed. “I’ll send the announcements tomorrow, provided you wish to still go through with this after her rebirth.” She stood up and left for the door. As she opened it, she peered back at them. “Bear in mind, there will be repercussions for this decision. It will be your responsibility to respond to them and any consequences that come of this.”

And with that she was gone.

“Well,” Jareth said brightly. “That went well.”

Sarah stood up from Jareth’s lap and turned on him. He looked up at her curiously.

“So,” she began putting her hands on her hips. He tilted his head in response, smiling slightly. “You were betrothed to someone?”

“Sure, of course,” he said, smiling wider. “More before her as well.”

“Why do you think this is funny?” Sarah asked darkly.

He grinned and jumped up from the chair, planting a kiss on her lips and walking off.

“You’re so cute when you’re jealous,” he said wryly as he walked out of the room.


	7. The Labyrinth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimers apply as before.
> 
> Please enjoy.~

The rest of the day seemed to go by too quickly. There was far little time to speak to Jareth, let alone pull him aside and talk to him alone. Sarah had many burning questions on her mind, but none of them were allowed to be answered. In addition to that, it seemed she was unable to move or go anywhere without Jareth at her side. She couldn’t go for a walk by herself to clear her head.

The hours ticked by, nightfall threateningly closer and closer. And as it did so, the more Sarah wanted to get away. The dining hall was packed with all different kinds of Fae, including Titania and Oberon. Many were dressed for the occasion and it made Sarah feel increasingly out of place, as all she had on were the clothes from earlier.

It was when Jareth was deep in a conversation with another male fae about the goings on in the other courts that Sarah spotted her opportunity to duck out and away. She pushed past groups until she spotted a sight that made her blood boil.

A tiny goblin was trying to reach for some food, while some kind of elf-girl held it just out of reach, giggling. Sarah snatched the food, which looked like a potato mixed with an apple and a strawberry, and handed it to the little goblin, who thanked her then promptly ran behind her legs.

“Excuse me?!” the elf exclaimed angrily. “That was mine!”

“Must be easy to pick on someone far smaller than yourself,” Sarah said coldly.

The elf screeched, drawing attention to her and raised her clawed hand to strike Sarah. Sarah stood her ground even as the claw came slashing at her.

“That’s quite enough of that.” Jareth’s voice came from behind Sarah as his hand shot out and clasped the elf by the wrist. The elf growled menacingly at Jareth, trying to yank her arm away from him. He just stared at her boredly. “If you continue to disrespect me, I will see you banished from my kingdom.”

The she-elf spat on him and in a sudden flash, she was gone.

Sarah grabbed a napkin and made to wipe the spit off from his jacket when he grabbed her wrist.

“No, love. It’s acid,” he said gently. Sure enough, it was starting to burn though his leather jacket. He made his way out of the party. “Come along if you wish. Otherwise I’ll be right back.”

Sarah finally saw the chance she’d been wanting for some alone time with him. Maybe now they could talk. She followed him back to his bedroom.

“I didn’t know elves had acidic spit,” she muttered.

“Elf?” he repeated in disgust. Jareth looked at her as he threw off his jacket and his gloves. “That wasn’t an elf. Oh damn… It’s already on my shirt”

He turned his back to her and untucked his shirt. And before Sarah thought to look away, off that came too. But too late to look away now. His muscles rippling under the skin of his back as he grabbed a new shirt from the drawer. She felt her whole face heat up.

“That was actually a type of slith,” he said absentmindedly. He turned to look at her, and would have looked concerned had his smile not betrayed him. “My dear, you are cherry red, is something the matter?”

Sarah didn’t respond. His long, wild blond hair; elf-like ears; sleek, sharp face; thin, wiry kind of build, but toned. Glinting on his bare chest was the sickle-shaped pendant he always wore. He was a magic user after all, she reasoned. But he was most certainly hot. She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t registered him slowly approaching her until he reached out and pulled her forward, pressing her against him.

With that wry smile of his on his face, Sarah knew he was perfectly aware of what he was doing to her. And she loved it. He leaned in and pressed his lips onto hers, caressing her face with one hand, pressing the other into the small of her back. Her knees felt weak, threatening to give at any time. He moved and pulled her arms up, moving them around his neck without ever breaking the kiss. Then pressed her harder against himself. His passion became edged with something else. Almost like a hunger. It was starting to make her feel the same way.

But a dark though crossed her mind, interrupting the moment. She pulled away, and he broke the kiss unwillingly.

“What’s wrong?” he sighed gently, pressing his forehead against hers. His eyes were smoldering.

“I keep thinking about the turning into a fae thing.”

“Then you are worrying too much.”

“Or too little,” she argued.

He lifted his head off her to look at her curiously.

“Has this really been bothering you all day?” he asked.

Sarah looked down at the pendant he always wore, not wanting to answer. Or not knowing how.

“Forget about it for now, Sarah,” he said gently.

“I can’t. Time is running out and there’s a possibility I won’t be pretty anymore.”

“Sarah…” he kissed her forehead. “You may not completely understand this now, but looks aren’t really anything, at all. I mean it,” he added seriously. “Most of us can turn ourselves into whatever we want, however we want to look. To judge us by the way we look is to misjudge. A pretty face could be hiding the ugly personality beneath.”

“Maybe…” she responded, still worried. “So is this not how you truly look, then?”

“Would it bother you if it were not?” he laughed. “No, unfortunately for you, this is what you are stuck with.”

She smiled slightly in response, but she was far too distracted still. He started to kissed her cheek, her nose, her lips, her chin.

“Do I need to distract you?” he purred.

“Please,” she encouraged.

He kissed her neck, from her ear down to the nape of her neck. She whimpered in response.

Suddenly, he swept her off her feet and pressed his lips to hers as he held her. And then suddenly she was on the bed.

It was as comfy as she imagined it to be. The clatter of his pendant hitting the desk where he tossed it before he climbed into the bed after her. First tugging the sheets out from under her and tucking them both in. He propped himself up on his elbow and grinned down at her.

“You have not stopped blushing this whole time,” he remarked. “Will you combust into flames if I kiss you more?”

“It feels as though I might,” Sarah admitted. “Shouldn’t you at least go back to that party?”

“That? That’s not a party. That’s a social gathering and I hate those types of things…” he said boredly. “I’m glad to have an excuse to escape it.”

“What if there was more trouble?”

“Don’t worry about that. There are plenty of nobles there who would sooner stop it than risk offending each other.” He caressed her face, then ran his fingers through her hair. “Just close your eyes and get some sleep.”

“But I’m still wearing my jeans!” she exclaimed.

He raised his eyebrows and twitched his hand. She realized with a start that her jeans were now gone.

“You… Where?”

“They’re just beside the bed,” he said, pointing behind him. “Now sleep.”

She felt herself getting sleepy, as if his voice had just commanded it to be so and cast a spell upon her.

“Jareth?” She was struggling to stay awake.

“Hmm?”

“Please, don’t leave.” She moved closer to him, feeling the most comfortable when she had some sort of contact with him.

“I’ll be right here until you wake up, love.” He kissed her forehead. “Sweet Dreams.”

Sarah suddenly bolted out of a sound sleep and sat straight up. It was dark. Just a second ago, Jareth had been right there. She panicked, not feeling him anywhere.

“No, Sarah, calm down. He probably went back to the party. He’ll be back…” she told herself.

She slid off the bed and found a full-body mirror nearby. She was wearing a nightgown that felt like a silk dress. It glittered in the light of the moon coming in from the window, reminded her it was somewhat cold. Something behind her glinted in the moonlight. She turned and saw the pendant Jareth had left there. He went nowhere without it. Sarah picked it up and put it around her neck, resolving to find its owner.

With a sigh, she began to explore the castle. It was abandoned. No sign of sleepers, or guards, not even party goers.

“Maybe they all left for the labyrinth,” Sarah thought. And like a ghost in her glittering silk gown, she travelled to the labyrinth’s walls, passing a dead goblin town.

Entering the labyrinth, she found her first sign of life. A woman dressed in a similar gown as her, beautiful white flowing hair glittering in the light of the moon, her skin appearing to glow. Her large orb-like eyes laid upon Sarah.

“You are the spirit of the labyrinth,” Sarah stated in awe, understanding immediately. The spirit smiled kindly.

“Hello, Sarah Williams,” she greeted.

“Where is Jareth?” Sarah asked her hopefully. The spirit regarded her thoughtfully.

“He is still next to you, Sarah,” she responded softly. “You are asleep, still.”

“Oh, this is a dream. It feels so real,” Sarah said distractedly.

“It isn’t a dream,” the spirit said, looking back into the pond she was looking in. “This is just the other side. A reflection, in a way. You’re spirit is wandering while you sleep.”

“Oh.” Sarah touched the pendant she had grabbed in her sleep. “May I ask your name?”

“I’m just the Labyrinth,” she responded, looking back to Sarah and smiling kindly. “I possess no other name.”

“So, why did I come to ‘the other side?’”

“I called you,” the Labyrinth said gently. “You are to be my queen, soon. So I wished to speak to you.” Sarah waited for her to continue. “When you first came here, I knew you were special. There was something about you. Something that made King Jareth forcefully move my own walls around just for you.” Sarah blushed in embarrassment. The spirit smiled again. “You showed kindness to those that dwell within me. Goblins, wyrms, dwarves, trolls. Even the feisty pixies. All outcasts of Tír na nÓg. All my precious inhabitants. As long as you continue to treat them with kindness, you have my allegiance, my Queen.”

The spirit leaned down to the water and brought out a gem from its depths without causing ripples. It was the same gem that adorned Jareth’s pendant.

“With this, you will be a bearer of one of my gifts. This will allow you to access my walls, call upon my aide, or simply speak to me whenever you feel lonely.”

The spirit of the Labyrinth placed the gem into Sarah’s outstretched hand, where it began to glow and react. It became a slightly smaller version of Jareth’s pendant, a smaller chain materializing with it. When Sarah put it on, the pendant sat between her clavicle. Sarah began to feel herself fade.

“Good luck, my Queen,” the Labyrinth called out to her. “I’ll be here should you need me.”

Sarah woke up in the bed. It was as dark as it was in her dream. She felt her neck. The pendant was there, though Jareth’s was on the side table still. Satisfied that it wasn’t a dream, Sarah closed her eyes once more. Jareth was sleeping next to her, an arm draped over Sarah. Upon her waking, he stirred and pulled himself closer to her, wrapping his arm tightly around her possessively.

She sighed deeply, feeling happy for the first time in a very long time.


	8. The First Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimers as usual.
> 
> Please enjoy ~

When Sarah finally woke up the next morning, she was met with with a surprise.

Jareth was singing, sitting on the window sill, staring out over his kingdom. Music was playing from somewhere, as if the air around him was providing a melody to his tune. It was strangely familiar, though Sarah couldn’t place when she’d heard him sing that particular song before. When he noticed her sitting up, he raised his eyebrows at her but returned to looking out the window, still singing.

She slid off the bed, pulling her jeans back on from where they were on the floor, only vaguely noticing they didn’t fit well. Sarah walked over to the window sill and sat between Jareth’s legs. He wrapped his arms around her, not missing a beat to his song. He moved one leg to hang off the edge of the window.

The low hanging sun in the sky cast it’s usual golden hue upon everything, making the labyrinth glitter proudly. For a long moment, everything was just right.

“I told you,” Jareth said finally. “You had nothing to worry about.”

“What?”

He pushed his lips against her hair as he grabbed her wrist and raised her hand to eye level. There were three fingers instead of four. She stared at them for a moment, then looked at her other hand. She touched her ears. They were long and pointy, just like Jareth’s.

“I’m an elf?”

“What is this obsession with elves you have?” He shook his head, his tone incredulous. “Elves are just overgrown imps with a love for what they call dancing and little else.”

“Then what are you?” Sarah asked, reaching back to touch his thin face.

“I am me.”

“No, I mean-,”

“Sarah,” he interjected, quietly. His tone was patient, but Sarah could see he could still lose his temper. “You have a lot to learn, that much is clear.” He clasped her wrist and wound his arms tightly around her. “I am of the Unseelie court, and yet closer to Seelie than some who are of the Seelie court.” This seemed to be an inside joke of his. “I am both the guardian and caretaker of this kingdom and it’s labyrinth. I protect the outcasts, the misunderstood, and the unwanted. I am a fae. I am King of the Goblins. Do you understand?”

“I meant no offense.” Sarah turned so her head was resting on his shoulder most away from the windows edge so that she could look at him. He looked at her for a moment, seemingly contemplating.

“Of course not,” he said finally. “But lesson one… A fae is distinguished from another by their power, not their looks. Remember, most of us can use glamor.”

“The goblins are fae, are they not?” Sarah looked down at the Goblin City. “The small little fairies that bite you. Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus. They are all distinguishable visually.”

His lips became a thin line for a moment, a frown crossing his sharp features. For a moment, Sarah thought he was angry. But when he spoke his tone was gently thoughtful.

“You are confusing fae and faerie. Think of it this way. We are all faeries. But not all faeries are fae.”

“Wait, but the books-,” Sarah began, but Jareth shot her a look, causing her to swallow the rest of her response.

“Any book in your world is liable to be incorrect,” he said carefully. Sarah could tell he was feeling impatient. “It’s best to forget about any of the books you’ve read for now.”

“So the fae are a type of faerie. They are different than most faeries.”

“Most of the royalty in either of the courts are fae. But some are not. You’ll understand which are which. The most important thing to understand is the difference between the Seelie and the Unseelie courts.” He paused a moment and frowned, then muttered, “What are you doing?”

Sarah leaned out to see what he was looking at. One of the goblins in the city seemed to be running in a circle then fell on the ground. Suddenly Sarah became very aware of the height from where they were sitting to the ground below. Jareth seemed to have picked up on that, because he pulled her back to lay against his shoulder again.

“Anyway,” he continued, rolling his eyes at the antics of his subjects. “The Seelie Courts are comprised of the Summer and Spring Courts. The Unseelie Courts are likewise comprised of the Winter and Autumn Courts. The best way to remember which is which is by considering humans came to translate ‘Seelie’ to be blessed, lucky, and holy, and ‘Unseelie’ to be the direct opposite. Unlucky, evil, and wretched.”

“You said you were of the Unseelie?” Sarah recalled, curious.

“Correct.”

“I don’t…” Sarah frowned. How was she going to word this without offending him. Fortunately, he seemed to pick up on what she was getting at anyway, and thankfully did not seem to show offense.

“In truth, it’s not really black and white. The Seelie Courts are far more benevolent in a manner of speaking when it comes to their interactions with humans. The Unseelie, however, not as much so. Our interactions have been seen as negative.” He hesitated. “But the reality of it is definitely not good versus evil. You cannot look at a fae and immediately tell which court they belong to. You can only tell by what rules they follow.”

He paused a moment to glance back down at the Goblin City.

“When a child is wished away, I take them. They are unwanted. The humans see this as evil. I don’t.”

“You’re kidnapping, though. And turning them into goblins.” When he glared at her through the corner of his eye, Sarah clarified, “I’m only explaining how it’s seen on the other end, Jareth. I’m not speaking for myself at the moment.”

“Sarah,” he said carefully. He had lost his patience. “Not every human wishing away a child to the goblins is a put-upon teenager tired of babysitting their little brother every weekend.”

Sarah pulled away from Jareth to turn towards at him and glare, her eyes burning. His icy blue and coal black eyes regarded her carefully.

“I’m certain there is still plenty of emotional people sending their loved ones by accident because they misdirect their anger!” Sarah hadn’t realized until then how much this bothered her. Her voice choked at the end of her sentence. Jareth simply looked at her while she angrily wiped the tears spilling from her eyes over her cheeks.

After a few moments, when she had calmed down, he produced a crystal in his hand and handed it to her.

“Look into this.” His voice was hard to read into. Sarah took the crystal from his hand and glanced at it.”These are some of the lives the children lived who I have currently in my court.”

What she saw were a series of disturbing images she had never wanted to see. From neglect to what Sarah would consider torture. And the fact that the victims were all children did not help her emotional state at all. She threw the crystal away from her and out the window. Before it reached the ground it slowed down and popped gently like a bubble.

What followed was probably the most tense silence Sarah had ever felt before. Sarah wanted to talk, to apologize for her sudden reaction, but any noise she wanted to make was lost in her throat. She didn’t dare look at Jareth in the eye.

“Humans to us are evil,” he said finally. His tone was flat. “But the children don’t start out that way. They are pure. For a chance to save them from that life, and give them some semblance of happiness-.”

“Do you think I’m evil, Jareth?” Sarah’s tone was absolutely broken. She had no idea why she felt so emotionally. As a matter of fact, she didn’t think of these words at all, same as before. Had all of this been stuffed away and held back? When he didn’t answer right away, she looked at him. His expression was that of shock and confusion. “For wishing my baby brother away… Do you think I’m evil?”

The shock and confusion slid away into a more guarded expression.

“Sarah-.”

“Do. You. Think. I’m. Evil?” she punctuated, on the verge of yelling.

“That’s enough,” he said quietly, through his teeth. “I am being far more patient with you than anyone else. By now they would have already seen my cruelty. But if you continue to test my patience, you will get to see that, I promise you.”

Sarah covered her face with her arms, sliding to the opposite side of the window sill, away from him. There was a long moment of silence between them besides some sniffles coming from Sarah.

“In the future,” he said finally, softly. “if you want to talk about things you are afraid of or feel strongly about, I don’t mind listening to what you have to say. However, I will not be shouted at.”

More silence followed. But Sarah was thinking carefully about what exactly happened, trying to really figure out the reason behind her emotions. Sometimes, much like the labyrinth, it wasn’t always what it seemed, immediately. But this was unusual for her.

“I think the stuff you showed me made me feel really anxious…” Sarah said finally, speaking through her arms. “I also think I’ve had a lot more on my mind than what I thought. I didn’t mean to react the way I did.”

“No,” he said, sighing. She looked up at him confused. “I don’t think you’re evil. You didn’t yet get to that point. Not every human is evil, but personal view aside, I was pointing out the ‘accepted view’ of the Unseelie Courts.”

Sarah considered that a moment.

“You said you are Unseelie. Which court do you belong to?”

“Winter,” he said gently. “We will get into the differences of the four courts another time. For now, there are other important things to discuss.” He slid off the window sill on the wrong side. Sarah lurched forward as if to catch him, but her stood on the air, smirking at her. “Now that you are fae, there are some things you should get used to about yourself. Such as stronger emotional impulses. You will need to learn to exert more self-control, especially around the other royals. As my bride-to-be, you can personally ruin my standing in the court very quickly if you react so sensitively to everything.”

“Why would that be? Couldn’t you just imply that you do not share a view of mine, or something?”

“No,” he shook his head. “That would imply discourse in the kingdom, and therefore show weakness. But I was more so referring to the potential of me needing to step in.” His smirk turned into a very serious expression. “Mother would not be too happy if I beat up one of my siblings, so do try to keep your head level.”

“I will try.”

Sarah frowned, considering the implications of being increasingly more emotional than she already was. She barely knew how to control her emotions as a human, could she really be able to do that now? Jareth seemed to pick up on her wondering.

“You are fae, now,” he said tilting his head to the side. “Fae reach adulthood far quicker than humans do, so your body and mind have already matured. Experience will do the rest. Don’t worry about that.”

He rose a little in the air.

“For now, however,” he continued briskly. “Get dressed into something suitable. In the wardrobe on the left of the mirror is something I thought would suit you for the time being. Mother is going to be visiting not long from now so I do recommend some level of haste. When you are ready, meet me outside the gates to the city. We'll see what you can do.”

And with that he disappeared.


	9. Bad News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimers apply
> 
> Please enjoy ~

Sarah stared at herself in the mirror. She was definitely different. Not in a bad way, but Sarah wondered if vanity was much more natural to her now. She was pretty before for sure she had thought. But now…

Her long dark brown hair probably stayed the same, but it was hard to tell because colors seemed to pop a lot more for her. It looked like a deeper and more saturated brown than before. Her large eyes also seemed to retain their same shape and general color, but instead of their forest colored green, they were now a bright, deep emerald color. Her delicately pointed ears stuck out of her hair, and she seemed to have deliberate control over to a slight degree.

For the first time in Sarah’s life, she could wiggle them. But she thought it was weird, she so resolved to not do that ever again.

She wasn’t too fond of how thin she was, though. She twisted and turned in the mirror. Sarah had a nice hourglass figure going for her, even despite the month not being able to keep any of food down until recently. But even though she felt she looked a little too straight, she considered she might get used to it. Besides, she could use glamor, as Jareth called it, to fill herself back out.

Her teeth were only slightly different, which was a shame. She had liked her teeth before. They seemed sharper, and smaller, but there was also fewer of them. Probably because her jaw had gotten smaller.

Probably the only thing she’d struggle to get used to was having three fingers. It honestly didn’t feel different, but it just made her question how she could do anything with them. Certainly, Jareth had no issue, but he was born that way.

Having had enough body shaming herself, she opened the wardrobe he had indicated to the left of the mirror. Inside were many garments. Her jaw dropped. Where did he get all these? Some were dresses, but thankfully they were few and far between. The one Jareth had spoke of was hanging sideways against the other clothes. Thankfully, despite his obvious tendency to dress flashy, it was practical.

It was still glittery, as she expected no less from him, but the low-tailed high-collar leather and rhinestone jacket accented her hair, she felt like. Underneath the jacket would go a simple tunic and pants. To bring it all together, a pair of leather knee-highs with very little heel (thank goodness).

She looked at herself in the mirror and narrowed her eyes at her reflection.

“I bet you he did this so we’d be dressed to match…” she told her reflection. She nodded to herself in agreement, then laughed as she walked out the door.

From that moment, leaving the safety of the room, and walking all the way out to the gates, she was met with gawking goblins. Some tripping on their way to do something.

“They probably find it strange I’m dressed this way,” she thought to herself, feeling self-conscious. “Either that or I’m doing something I shouldn’t be. Can’t be helped, though.”

Jareth was standing by the gates on the other side of the city, a foot propping him up against the wall. He was looking off towards the forest, but when Sarah approached him, he glanced at her.

“There. Now you look like a goblin queen,” he said, grinning. 

“Yes, well… There was more you wanted to talk about,” Sarah said dismissively, waving her hand.

A smirk lifted the corner of one side of his mouth before he pushed off the wall and walked towards her.

“Straight to the point, then,” he said, clasping his hands in front of him. “All fae have at least one ability that comes naturally to them. For some, it’s growing leaves, giving life to previously dead things or-.” He gestured to himself. “Music.”

Sarah considered the times she’s heard him sing. The dance, and then this morning. Music just seemed to flow with him from some unseen band or orchestra. She wondered amusedly if he ever gave himself a theme song.

“We call it a niche. It’s easy enough to discover. You’ll feel drawn to a certain ‘hobby’ and you’ll just simply be able to do it,” he said, gesturing slightly before reclasping his hands. “Your magic will be based around that, so we need to figure that out first before we move on.”

Sarah frowned. He made it sound so easy, but she couldn’t even imagine where to begin. Jareth regarded her with an expression she couldn’t read before gesturing her to follow him down the path.

“There are three types of magic,” he continued, raising his voice slightly so she could still hear them as they walked. “Elemental, which includes any combination of water, fire, air, earth, lightning, heat, and cold. Mental, which includes telekinesis, projection, and even suggestion. Arcane, which tend to be the darker of the three, because it often involves summoning magic from beyond to summon and reanimate the dead. Arcane magic will not come naturally to us.”

They walked for a little while, entering the forest with the large and ancient trees, before he stopped, placing his gloved hands on his hips. He turned to face Sarah and regarded her for a moment in silence.

“Some Fae use medians to cast magic,” he said lightly, raising a hand and producing a crystal ball onto his fingertips. He started to roll it around his wrist and arms, almost dancing with it. “Mine happen to be these crystals. Some use twigs, leaves, pollen. Some don’t use a median at all, but it’s much harder to concentrate.”

He let the crystal roll down his elbow before tossing it into the air and catching it with his fingertips fluidly.

“How will I figure any of this out?” Sarah asked, dazed.

“Your median is a choice based on your niche,” Jareth responded tossing the crystal up. “Or just something you find a liking towards. It’s not something you have to use, it just makes things easier to direct.”

She looked around her. She didn’t feel drawn to anything around her. Well, except Jareth, but that wasn’t helping.

“You’re blushing, again,” he observed, tilting his head. Sarah shook her head and turned away from him.

“How is music a niche?” she asked, trying to distract him. “Do you mean singing?”

“Singing just a method of controlling and casting magic.  _ If  _ you’re good at it. Not much different than speaking incantations.” Sarah could hear him stepping up behind her. “Just listen.”

The wind seemed to sing around him again. An unseeable orchestra playing seemingly endlessly about him. It was soft, but distinctive.

“So that’s always there?” She frowned at the tree she happened to be looking at. “I’ve never noticed it until today.”

“That’s because you have better hearing, now.” He tugged on one of her ears playfully. Sarah brushed him off. “You could only really hear it when I was singing or casting.”

“This morning, were you casting a spell then?” Sarah turned her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

“No,” he responded softly. “Just singing.”

“It sounded familiar,” she mumbled. When he didn’t respond, she turned to face him.

He was looking off into the forest, his expression like stone. Looking to see what he was staring at, Sarah felt her stomach flip.

High King Oberon was bouncing towards them. The fae stopped in front of them, smiling.

“So I heard the announcement was made, so some congratulations are indeed in order,” he said happily. “Though, I do hope you are preparing her for what’s coming, Jareth.”

“Of course,” he responded coolly.

“What’s coming?” Sarah asked them, looking from one to the other in alarm. Jareth shot her a look.

“Oh dear.” Oberon seemed to find her question most amusing. “Not everyone was too pleased with the surprise, little Sarah. I’m pleased that you were fit to be a fae, but this will not sit well with the rest of the Winter court.” He looked back at Jareth. “They are currently discussing your removal.”

Jareth pursed his lips and set his jaw, but said nothing.

“They will be arriving sooner than planned, so I’ll see you back in the throne room?”

With that Oberon bounded off. Jareth turned to Sarah, looking stressed.

“Head back up to the bedroom and stay there until I come and get you,” he growled.

Sarah didn’t have enough time to think about responding before he just disappeared.


	10. A Short Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same Disclaimers as before
> 
> Please enjoy!~

“What, does he really expect me to just waltz back up to the castle and twiddle my thumbs not knowing what’s going on?” She threw up her hands and stalked off towards the labyrinth.

“Sarah, please do what I say.”

She turned around swiftly. It had been Jareth’s voice but there was no one there. For a moment Sarah forgot that those crystals of his did a lot more than just look pretty while he juggled them around.

“And if I don’t?” she demanded. When he didn’t seem like he was going to answer, Sarah waited for a little bit before turning on her heel and once again heading off to the labyrinth. “Besides, I mean to visit my friends. It’s been a good month since I’ve last seen them.”

“Sarah…” his tone sounded reproachful.

“You aren’t going to talk me out of it, Jareth,” Sarah snapped.

The forest’s trees grew steadily more massive, the deeper she went into the forest. The moss and brush lined dirt pathway dipped and weaved around the thick trunks. It was crisp in the shade of the forest, making Sarah remember her last time through here. She stopped by a familiar tree, one she had sat against as the goblin king had given her a poisoned peach.

“No, that’s wrong,” she thought to herself. “It wasn’t poisoned. Just infused with a forgetfulness potion…”

She would have forgotten everything that night had Jareth not kissed her. Pressing her fingers to her lips, Sarah recalled that first kiss, both from her own memory and through his own that he had given her yesterday. Her heart fluttered with a yearning that made her move her fingers from her lips to press her palm against her chest.

Physically, she noticed she felt a dull pain, though not unpleasant. Just strange. Was this, too, something to do with her being a fae? Or was this something to do with being in love? Sarah ultimately decided it was both, as she would never know or understand one without the other.

Something made a noise behind her.

“Sarah?” said a familiar voice.

“Hoggle!” Sarah turned suddenly and threw herself onto her friend, squeezing the dwarf around the head. “Oh, Hoggle I’ve missed you! Why didn’t you visit? Where have you been? Has everything been alright? Where are Sir Didymus and Ludo?”

“Mmph!” Hoggle struggled away from her hug, trying to breath. Sarah backed off, apologizing while he gasped for breath. “You don’t haveta hug me so hard. I couldn’t visit. We all tried but… uh…” Hoggle had finally taken a good look at her, and his eyes widened. “S-Sarah? Where did you get them ears?”

“I’m a fae now,” she said cheerfully.

Hoggle opened and closed  his mouth several times. For some reason he seemed in shock, but Sarah supposed it was understandable. She did look quite a bit different.

“You all tried to visit but you couldn’t?” she encouraged, wanting him to continue.

“The whole labyrinth startedta sort of break down. We wanted to try and keep it from fallin apart completely. It’s our home,” he said, gesturing a bit. He seemed unable to hold eye contact. But a familiar fox terrier knight strode out from between two trees.

“Did you find the trespasser, sir Hoggle?” he snarled. But then he stopped dead in his tracks. “Sarah?”

“Sir Didymus!” Sarah crouched to be level with the short noble knight. “It’s so nice to see you, too. Where’s Ludo? I haven’t seen you guys in a month!”

“A month?” Hoggle asked in a strange tone. He and Sir Didymus exchanged glances. Sarah stared at her friends, unsure what to think of their reactions.

“Twas nearly a year, Lady Sarah,” Sir Didymus responded carefully.

“What? No!” Sarah stood up and took a step back. “It hasn’t been a year. Time is slower here than my…”

“We were gonna visit soon as the labyrinth stopped falling apart on us,” Hoggle said. “Honest.”

“I believe you, Hoggle..” Sarah said frowning. “I’m just… Confused that’s all.”

“It is good to see you, regardless, Lady Sarah. What, may I ask, is the occasion?” He looked at her style of dress, as if noticing for the first time.

“I wanted to come visit you guys before I got married,” Sarah said, returning to her bright tone.

“M-Married?!” Hoggle exclaimed. “To who?!”

“To whom is our lady to be wed? This is joyous news, I wish to congratulate him!” Sir Didymus gushed excitedly, tail wagging.

But Sarah’s answer was stuck in her throat. The last time they were here in this world together, they were fighting Jareth. How would they react? Would they understand? Should she lie? Didn’t Jareth announce it to the kingdom?

“To… Jareth…” Sarah said, tugging at a lock of her own hair anxiously, not looking at them. Her cheeks burned.

“What!? To that-!?” Hoggle seemed to choke over his own words. Then angrily twisted on his heel and started to walk away.

“Hoggle!” Sarah called after him as he stormed away.

“If this is true, my lady, then does this mean that you are to be our queen?” Sir Didymus asked, his tone, as usual, dutiful. Sarah found herself feeling grateful that he didn’t seem to be judgemental at all. Hoggle stopped walking away and had turned to stare back at her.

“If all goes well, then yes,” Sarah said shrugging.

Hoggle shook his head with a “Bah!” and left out of sight.

“Sir Didymus? Where’s Ludo?” Sarah asked.

“Lady Sarah, sir Ludo… ah…” He seemed to not be able to say.

“Don’t tell me he’s dead…” Sarah pressed a hand over her mouth, tears already starting to sting her eyes.

“No! Of course not, my lady!” Sir Didymus exclaimed. “He’s a rock troll, my lady. They just… Turn into rock statues for a while in a sort of extended hibernation. It’s their version of sleeping.”

“When will he wake up, then?”

“I’m not sure, my lady. My greatest apologies.” He turned to look where Hoggle had run off to. “I really should continue looking for that intruder, my lady. I have a duty to uphold, not only to King Jareth now but you as well.”

“You sure it wasn’t just me? I’ve been walking in the forest for a bit now. Or High King Oberon from earlier?”

“Please, my lady, I know a stranger when I see them. I’ve never seen them in the kingdom before.” Sir Didymus said, sounding affronted. “Do join us when you aren’t busy, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

When he left out of sight as well, Sarah felt as though the conversation had been rather short. But had it really been a year since they saw her.

It took a second more for it to really sink in. Had it really been a year? Well, thirteen hours passed in the span of three hours in her world, so it made some sort of sense. But not entirely, because the second visit from her friends had been a week later after their first, and they said it had only been a day. She was confused now, but she figured Jareth could help her understand it better later.

Sarah pressed her hand back to her mouth again as it dawned on her. That meant Jareth spent a whole year heartbroken. Agonizing over it all over and over again. The labyrinth, without a caretaker or guardian’s attention, started to fall to disaster and neglect.

Sarah was so caught up in her head trying to work things out to a state where she could understand them that she never noticed the figure approaching from behind her.

“ _Well,_ this is certainly going to be easier than I thought.”


	11. A Wintery King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimers as usual.
> 
> Still chugging along, my friends. Please enjoy~

Sarah whipped around.

The fae that stood before her was almost as tall as Jareth, and nearly as intimidating. Grey eyes stared at her maliciously, his uneven white hair spilling down around his pointed ears and black, twisted horns. His skin was a dark silver, which gave him a very wintery appearance. Even his armor seemed to be designed like ice, with sharp edges, thought it was a darker grayish-blue. A black velvety cloak spilled out from under his shoulder armor pieces and extended towards the ground. It wasn’t just his appearance that was cold. The air around him felt far more frigid than the rest of the cool atmosphere around the trees.

“I’m sorry?” Sarah narrowed her eyes at the stranger. “What, exactly, is going to be easier than you thought?”

“Well, you see,” he drawled boredly. “I was on my way to the castle when I happened to catch wind of a certain lady about to become a queen. So, I decided to take a closer look at this future supposed goblin queen.” Sarah didn’t like the way he was looking down at her. It was like someone observing something trivial to them and finding it had wasted their time. “And here I find you. In the woods, far from help, and by yourself.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Sarah said coldly, lifting up her chin.

“For someone in a position like what you find yourself in, you are quite unintelligent,” he said venomously, smiling. His teeth were snow-white, and seemed to glow against his dark skin. “You are bonded to King Jareth, are you not?”

“Yes,” Sarah responded matter-of-factly. The other’s grin widened, and it unnerved her.

“Then you know that you have made him vulnerable by allowing yourself to be captured so easily.”

Sarah stared at him incredulously. He was a good couple meters away from her still. How on earth did he figure she was captured already? She decided to call the fae on his bluff, and made to step forward.

But her feet wouldn’t move.

Looking down, she realized her feet and the ground were stuck together with a thin layer of ice. She glared at her leather boots before looking back up at the fae to glare at him. He had began to step towards her slowly, taking his time. The closer he got, the more cold it became.

“There will be no running away from me, I’m afraid.”

Sarah looked up at him and observed him more closely. Wintery appearance, and ice like abilities… She made an educated guess.

“I take it you must be from the Winter Court?” Sarah asked. He stopped smiling suddenly and stopped in his tracks.

“I am the Unseelie High King,” he corrected coldly.

Sarah felt herself go pale as she realized the predicament was far more than just being stuck in ice. Her actions now could affect whatever Jareth was stuck dealing with at the castle.

“Ah, forgive me, then, your majesty,” Sarah said inclining her body in a stiff and unbalanced bow. “I have not had the chance to learn entirely about the court systems. No offense was intended.”

He regarded her with his grey eyes carefully.

“Why did you come to our lands, earth-born?” he asked, his tone dripping in acid.

“It is a long story starting with selfish action and an accidental ingest of food from this world,” Sarah responded uncomfortably. “And feelings I’ve never felt before.”

“Spare me the details,” he spat. “You would seek to taint this world. You will be exiled. As you have already tainted Jareth’s heart, he will be forced to join you.”

“I don’t understand what you mean by ‘tainting,’ but I assure you I intend nothing of the kind,” Sarah stated blandly. She was starting to feel her temper raise, and knew she had to somehow keep it down. This was not the best time for her sass, and she was fighting from adding anything unnecessary.

It was then that Sarah started to notice that the fae has not stepped any closer to her. While he seemed harsh and cold, he hadn’t followed through yet on his threat to capture her, beyond sticking her feet to the ground.

“I would beg for you to reconsider, but I cannot fall to my knees at the moment,” Sarah muttered to her own amusement, indicating her stuck feet with a gesture.

A flicker of emotion crossed the fae king’s face. A very slight, almost unnoticeable twitch of the corner of his mouth.

“Begging would not improve your predicament,” he said quietly. But there was something else in his eyes.

“I’m certain an agreement can be made to make everyone happy without exiling the goblin king,” Sarah offered.

“What makes you so sure?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. “I cannot fathom any sort of compromise would be enough.”

“If that were true, then why haven’t you followed through with your threats?” Sarah asked blatantly. She yanked her foot free of the ice and stepped forward to yank the other foot free.

“Very few people have ever stood up to me,” he responded sincerely. “Fewer still are unafraid. I cannot tell if this is stupidity or bravery, yet.”

“Stupidity, more than likely,” Sarah shook her head, smiling to herself. “I tend to miss important things when I play the heroine. Like assuming someone is a villain as if this was some silly story. I’ve learned things aren’t always what they seem to be in this world.”

“Your mannerisms and speech are quite strange to me,” he said, tilting his head. “I find myself amused. I can see in your eyes that you are pure in heart however, so I will rescind my judgement for now.”

“I haven’t had a chance to really learn the ins-and-outs of how I’m supposed to act,” Sarah admitted, looking towards the castle.

“Not many of us act how we are supposed to all the time,” he admitted. Sarah looked over at him, aware suddenly that he seemed to be far more casual. He sighed and turned towards the castle. “Well, Sarah Williams, you have impressed me. Continue to impress me, and I might completely change my mind. Shall I accompany you back to the castle?”

He extended his arm out, crooked for her to link her own arm through. Sarah timidly accepted, finding the gesture to be a good sign, though part of her wondered if Jareth would mind. Through the leather jacket, Sarah could feel the cold air around him, but found it to be rather pleasant.

So there she was, arm-in-arm with the High King of the Unseelie courts.

“May I learn of your name, your majesty?” Sarah asked, her cheeks burning as she felt suddenly shy.

“I have many names. But, you have my permission to call me Madoc outside of the court.” he responded. “In court, however, you must refer to me by the royal titles or the Erlking also works.”

Madoc peered at her out of the corner of his eye.

“I see why Jareth fell in love with you now,” he murmured. “You certainly have a big heart. Do me a favor and do not lose that about you.”


	12. The Good Neighbors’ Court

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimers as usual.
> 
> Please enjoy~

When they arrived in the dining hall of the castle, which had been cleared since the following night to become a makeshift courtroom of sorts, all manner of fae were already present. The walls echoed with arguing but as soon as they entered all fell silent.

On the right were High Queen Titania, who wore a fluid black velvety dress and a crown of thorns woven through her long black hair, and High King Oberon of the Seelie court.

Right of them was a male dark skinned fae, one with shimmering red hair and chocolate skin, sporting a delicately woven gold circlet. Behind him were a group of a few other fae with varying shades of blonde, brunette, and red hair. Sporting light, individually decorated armor emblazoned with a sun upon it in varying places. These must be the fae of the summer court.

To the right of them stood the spring court. Pale fae with varying shades of brightly colored hair. One male in the group had dreads. They all wore a similar flower pendant to each other. One alone, a male, stood ahead of them, sporting a crown of brightly colored flowers against his long robin’s egg blue hair.

Opposite of the room to them stood the autumn court. A crown of woven dead leaves adorned the blonde hair of the female standing in front of them. Like Madoc, she also wore armor, though it appeared to be made from gnarled dead wood. Her eyes were crimson red, and when she saw Sarah, she flashed her vampiric teeth at Sarah as she passed, her lip curled in disdain. Sarah also noticed she smelled like death. The other fae behind her wore cloaks with hoods, each decorated with a red maple leaf brooch.

To the right of the autumn court stood the winter court. A female fae with wild white hair, and icy blue eyes stood before the others. She had a crown of what appeared to be ice. Behind her were more extravagantly dressed fae. None of them seemed to be wearing any statement of office, though they all seemed to glitter, either with rhinestones or jewelry. Sarah saw why Jareth normally fit in with the Winter Court.

Jareth stood in the center of the room. When Sarah entered with Madoc, his mismatched eyes widened in apparent shock. The Erlking walked Sarah up to Jareth, then gently patted her arm to let go. After she did so, the High King of the Unseelie Court took his place right of the Winter court, in the front of the room to the left of Titania and Oberon. Many of the fae in the room shot glances at her.

“How good of you to join us finally,” Titania greeted Madoc pleasantly.

“My apologies. I had gotten myself lost,” Madoc responded coolly. “Fortunately, a fair maiden found me and brought me to where I needed to be.”

Sarah kept a straight face while the whole room collectively turned to stare at her.

“Sure, if ‘getting yourself lost’ means ‘thought I’d try to kidnap this girl to force Jareth into exile,’” Sarah thought to herself silently.

“Sarah, we were just discussing your engagement,” Titania said benevolently, smiling gently at her. “I’m glad you could join us as well.”

“My dear,” the male fae before the spring court addressed Sarah, smiling as warmly as a ray of sunshine, beckoning her to approach him. “Would you mind approaching?”

“I don’t mind,” Sarah said timidly, hesitating before walking up to the spring court’s king.

The fae was only slightly taller than her, but he reached out and gently lifted her chin high, seemingly observing every detail of her face. Sarah began to feel self conscious. After finishing his observation he patted her on the shoulder in thanks and motioned for her to return to where Jareth stood.

“What do you see, Ariel?” asked the autumn queen.

“She has fabulous potential inside her,” he tapped his chin. “She is not much different than you or I, Maeve.”

“Don’t insult me by comparing me to that false fae,” Maeve snapped angrily. The room erupted into argument a between the four courts.

“Maeve. So that’s who Jareth was engaged to,” Sarah thought to herself. Then she recalled Jareth and Titania’s conversation. She was the one the goblins disliked and pushed into the bog. “Explains why she stinks.”

Sarah glances up at Jareth, who had his arms crossed, and she wondered why he was bothering to go through all this trouble. His lips were pressed into a thin line as he looked off as if staring in the distance.

Movement caught her eye, and she turned in time to see Maeve walking up to her, her eyes and 

nostrils flared. She swiftly yanked Sarah’s arm up painfully, causing Sarah to shout.

“You can’t even use magic yet, can you?” she spat. “Mab, seriously, you would let this pretender in your court?”

“I said nothing of the kind,” the Winter court queen, who was named Mab, snapped. “Jareth is already within my court. I do not think it is necessary to remove him. It is entirely a separate conversation to me.”

“But it is not,” Maeve argued. “To continue to keep him is to allow her to enter your court.”

“Let go of me,” Sarah growled. Maeve looked at her, a wicked glint in her blood-red eyes.

“Oh, does it hurt?” she asked, a sadistic smile creeping along her face, tightening her grip.

“No, actually,” Sarah said, loudly. “You just stink.”

Several fae snickered.

“Why you little-,” Maeve reared like a cobra, raising her hand as if meaning to backhand Sarah across the face when a booming voice intervened.

“Maeve!” The voice came from Madoc, who narrowed his grey eyes. “That’s enough from you. We all know you have a personal vendetta. Keep it out of this court meeting or you can excuse yourself.”

Maeve made a noise before throwing Sarah into Jareth, who caught and held her tightly against him. Sarah looked up and saw that while he was watching Maeve carefully, he still remained quiet and emotionless.

“You’re not mad at me, are you Jareth?” Sarah asked him quietly. When he didn’t answer, she wrapped her arms around him and hid her face against his chest. She felt him sigh slightly, and felt him press his cheek against the top of her head.

“-just unheard of. I certainly have no issue with it,” the Summer King said.

“I agree with Puck,” Ariel said lightly. “She has potential.”

“I am against it,” Maeve said dismissively. “She is impure of blood.”

“My reasoning for being against it is simply that she has had no experience being queen,” Mab said. She seemed to be purposeful in tone, but careful in syllable.

“Experience comes with time,” Puck responded, nodding. “But it does come.”

“Truly,” Mab responded politely. “But my concern remains that we may not be able to afford the time it may take. Mistakes made at this current time could be detrimental.”

There was a silence.

“Then we are ready to vote on it, I presume?” Titania asked them. “We can spend hours going back and forth, but I doubt it will get us any further.”

There was murmurs in agreement.

“Then, all in favor?”

Sarah looked around and noticed several hands went up. One by one, the two fae kings and two fae queens counted the hands.

“All opposed?”

Sarah bit her lip as hands went down and different hands raised.

“Summer court?”

“Passed,” said Puck.

“Spring Court?”

“Denied,” said Ariel. Sarah felt her heart drop.

“Winter court?”

“Passed,” Mab responded.

Autumn court?”

“Denied,” Maeve said airily, a snobbish smirk upon her face.

“Then we are both equally at an impasse,” Titania sighed. “Puck, Ariel, how many voted to pass, and how many voted to oppose?”

“A solid ten pass, my lady,” Puck said happily. “No denials.”

“Two passes. Six denials. Two refusals to vote.” Ariel responded, shaking his head.

“Then I move that the Seelie Courts force a pass,” Titania announced. “Twelve passes total, versus six denials and two refusals.” She turned to Madoc who was eyeing Maeve carefully. “High King Madoc?”

“Mab?” He flicked his eyes momentarily to the Winter Queen, then returned to Maeve.

“Six passed. Four denials.”

“Maeve?”

“Seven denials,” Maeve said, twirling her hair in her fingers.

“By my count, you had four passes and six denials.”

“She changed her vote!” Maeve remarked, pointing viciously at the fae girl in question in blame.

“Don’t think I didn’t watch you step on her toes,” Madoc hissed. “It was a tie, but I’m adding my own vote in. The Unseelie Court force passes.”

“Then it is settled. Jareth.” Titania’s voice echoed in the rock walls of the room, giving a sense of finality about the whole situation. Upon her addressing him, Jareth raised his head, still clutching Sarah to him. “Your title as King of the Labyrinth and the Goblins is hereby restored, along with your abilities, and Sarah will crowned Queen. Dismissed.”

Sarah hadn’t realized until then that Jareth’s power hadn’t been present. As soon as Titania dismissed the courts, he let go of Sarah and in an instant he moved so swiftly, swinging his splayed hands towards Maeve.

Maeve screeched in surprise as she got slammed by the invisible force that Jareth had just created into the wall, cracking it out in a spiderweb, dust from the grounded rock exploding from the crevices the instant they were made.

Jareth’s teeth were bared, his irises glowing white, and a terrifying aura emanated from him. It seemed to tatter his cloak and darken it, his hair turning from blonde to pure white.

Maeve let out an ungodly screech, pushing off the wall in a fury. And then she got slammed into the wall harder. The walls shook as cracks extended farther. Then she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Breathing heavily, Jareth seethed at her slumped form. Slowly, he regained his usual appearance, and a few of the autumn fae slowly approached to pick up Maeve. Jareth motioned them on when they looked nervously at him before turning to Sarah.

She must have looked horrified, because Jareth’s responding expression appeared reproachful for a second before he walked out of the room.

She was about to follow when suddenly, the fae in the room began to approach her, shake her hand, and some even hugged her, welcoming Sarah to the court and congratulating her on her engagement. A few called her “sister.”

“We have a particular tradition to commemorate marriage and the subsequent coronation,” Titania informed her as she gave her a hug. “It’s a lot different than your typical human marriage.”

“Welcome to the family,” Madoc said when it was his turn to shake Sarah’s hand. When she gave him a questioning look, he smiled and patted her shoulder.

After finally being able to leave the room, Sarah went to look for Jareth.


	13. Time is Short

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same Disclaimers apply.
> 
> Please enjoy.~

Sarah found Jareth sitting in one of the chairs near the fireplace in the bedroom, a foot propped up against his other knee. He seemed to be leaning on one arm, covering his eyes with the hand he leaned on. He didn’t move, even when Sarah sat across from him.

“Jareth?”

He lifted his head slightly to move his hand from his eyes to his mouth. There was a stressed and reproachful look about him, though he said nothing to her.

“Please don’t be upset with me,” Sarah pleaded.

“Sarah…” His tone was soft and careful. “Next time just do as I say. If something would have happened to you while I was in the middle of that, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.”

“I wanted to see my friends.”

“It could have waited until after,” he responded coolly.

“I was upset.” Sarah dropped her gaze to her hands as she clasped them in her lap. “I wanted to know what was going on and all you told me to do was come back here and be more in the dark.”

“Sarah,” he groaned, straightening in his chair to rub his face with both hands. “I don’t think you understand the situation you put me in.”

Still staring at her clasped hands, Sarah said nothing. Jareth was quiet a moment before he got up and approached her. She looked up in time for him to grab her gently by the shoulders and lift her up out of the seat. He steered her gently to the bed and then let go of her. She sat on it obediently as he took his shredded cloak off, throwing it unceremoniously to the ground. Underneath of it he wore a half-open loose-fitting lacy shirt and a tight black leather vest over top of it.As he took off his vest, letting that also join his cloak on the floor, he kicked off his boots and sat beside Sarah wordlessly.

“I’m sorry,” Sarah said finally.

Jareth sighed, taking his gloves off and peered at Sarah out of the corner of his eyes. When she turned to look at him, he brushed her bangs out of her face. Then he gently grabbed her chin to angle her for a kiss, but just before their lips met, he stopped.

“Please do what I ask, Sarah,” he requested softly, staring into her eyes. “I do not ask for much, so consider that when I do ask something of you, it is for a reason.”

“Alright.” Sarah knew he was teasing her with a kiss purposefully, but there was no smile on his face or glint in his eye. He only looked tired.

“Promise me?”

“I promise… But if I ask why, would you tell me?”

“If there’s time, certainly.” Jareth responded, quietly. “We can even talk about it after the fact, if that’s what will make you happy.”

He kissed her then, as if sealing the agreement between them. At first, it was light, and gentle. But then it began to get passionate. He pressed his lips more firmly to hers as he moved his fingertips along her jaw to her hair. Running his fingers through her hair, he gently angled her further to kiss her more deeply. Sarah’s heart began to rush as his hunger for her began to increase the intensity. Then, he let go of her head, and his other hand reached around her middle, lifting her off the bed enough to slide her more onto it. He began to bite at her lip softly, and a groan escaped Sarah. She didn’t know why she made any noise at all, but Jareth seemed to respond to it, melting into her. He dragged his hand roughly down her side to her leg and hitched it up as he pressed himself against her, pinning her against the bed, the other hand cupping her cheek. He moved his face down to her neck, his lips brushing against her skin, sending a shiver through her body as she felt the heat from his labored breathing.

Jareth moaned and stopped moving entirely, pressing his face against her neck.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked, reaching up and gently intertwining her fingers through his hair. He lifted himself up slightly and caressed her cheek gently.

“You’re beautiful,” he said in a husky voice. “And it’s driving me insane.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sarah asked, frowning at him. He stared at her for a long moment in silence before shaking his head and smiling at her.

He rolled off her, much to her displeasure, and laid on his back, arms splayed out. Sarah felt he had left behind an ache. She snuggled up to him, laying her her head against his shoulder. He held her close and closed his eyes.

While she lay there, she considered things for a moment and was suddenly reminded of her conversation with Hoggle and Sir Didymus.

“Jareth?” She lifted herself up and twisted in a way to prop up onto her elbows so she could look him in the eye.

“Hmm?” he grunted, opening his eyes slightly, raising his eyebrows.

“How does time work here in comparison to my world?”

“Don’t compare it,” he said quietly, opening his eyes completely to look at her clearly. “That realm and our time work in different ways. We cannot affect the other realm but we can fiddle with time here.”

“Doesn’t it age you when you push it forward?”

“Sarah, we are immortal.”

“But there’s got to be some sort of repercussions?”

“Like what?” Jareth asked raising one of his slanted eyebrows.

“Like… well everything. You might miss important things, or…” Sarah was struggling to find the words to fit what she was talking about. “Or going back in time might create a paradox because you already existed in that time.”

“Can’t go backward, only forward, and even then only by a couple of hours at a time.” He looked at her carefully. “We do have limitations, I suppose to that extent.”

“Does every fae have this ability?”

“No,” he responded simply. “I do, mother and the Erlking does, my brother Ariel. I think Puck might as well as a couple in his Summer Court.”

“Ariel is your brother?” Sarah stared at Jareth, but then she considered that she shouldn’t be surprised that someone so flamboyant was related to him. He nodded in response.

“Why were you asking about time?”

“Well, in my realm, only a month had passed. But here, apparently a whole year passed..” she recalled. “And when you gave me thirteen hours to find Toby before, it took me most of that thirteen, give or take a couple when you.. Well. But on my world, only five hours had passed. But that speed doesn’t equal out to a whole year in a month. And before that, most text agrees that time goes slower here than on Earth-,”

“Sarah.” Jareth put a finger to her lips gently. “Time usually does pass slower here than that world. But time does not work the same way. Think of it like a ribbon. Your world’s time is it’s own ribbon. And it’s in waves, so our ribbon, far straighter than yours, matches up to your time in shorter strides. Therefore our world’s time moves slowly. Those of us that can affect time can re-order our time in such a way that creates a wave. So more time passes. But only in short increments.”

“Wait,” Sarah moved away from his finger. “You said you can’t go backward, but just before I left, I remember you saying something similar. That you reordered time for me, and the clock was spinning backwards as if time was going in reverse. But you just said you can’t go backward.”

“Sarah, I was only doing that to show you in as little time that I had as possible what all I’ve done. There was no going back in time, but I was slowing time down. In my attempt to slow it down, however, when I finally let it go, it sprung forward at an accelerated rate. Exponentially over the amount it should have in the time your earth took to move two weeks. Then it resumed normal time.”

“You didn’t face any consequences for that, did you?”

“Of course I did.” Jareth widened his eyes. “After it was all back in order, I had to fix the labyrinth, because it had decayed, and I had to face the courts for that.”

“They didn’t take that power away from you though?” Sarah asked curiously.

“No, I need it for when someone wishes their child away,” he said quietly. “So as little time passes in their world as possible for when they decide to run the labyrinth here.” Jareth sat up, gently pushing Sarah off of him. He placed a hand against her knee. “We don’t want the other humans to miss them or our attempts to be ‘under the radar’ would be for naught.”

“How much time has passed in my world since I’ve been here?” Sarah asked quietly, sitting up and leaning her head against his shoulder.

Jareth didn’t respond immediately. His brow was furrowed slightly.

“A couple months or so.”

“Really?” Sarah looked at him shocked, then turned her head to stare at his hand on her knee while she thought about that.

“Sarah?”

“I wonder how they reacted,” Sarah said quietly.

“When you decided to stay, the magic of this realm had already forced them to forget about you completely,” Jareth said quietly.

Before Sarah could respond, a loud desperate knocking was heard.

“Come in,” Jareth called out impatiently.

“Sire! Sire!” A Goblin came busting in, dancing around in excitement. “Sire!”

“Well? Spit it out?” Jareth demanded, scowling.

“We have another wishing away their child!”


	14. Little Lucy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same Disclaimers as before:
> 
> Please enjoy!~

Sarah followed the goblin who had entered to the Throne room, leaving Jareth to curse under his breath while he got dressed. The room was in utter chaos, with goblins scurrying about, laughing and sushing the others. In the center of the room was a large crystal ball, and Sarah saw that inside it was playing a disturbing scene.

The room was small, with large curtains. The house couldn’t have been anything other than a trailer house. It seemed quite dirty. Two equally filthy children were in the room, one was a little girl with very long blonde hair that reached past her hips sobbing hysterically. She looked to be about five or six years old. Her older brother, probably about ten, appeared to have thrown a toy at the girl, because her head was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, a hard plastic toy laying sprawled on the ground beside her.

“I wish the goblins would take you away for good. I hate you! You’re such a spoiled brat! I was happier without you! Dad even said he’s sick of you! That’s why he killed himself!”

Some of the goblins in the throne room clapped in excitement, cheering, before disappearing. As soon as the boy slammed the door shut, the goblins appeared in the room and took the child. They re-appeared once again in the throne room, and the howling from the crystal ball filled the room as the little girl entered.

But Sarah heard none of it. Everything seemed to completely be drowned out as she noticed the ten year old re-enter the room, looking confused. He tried the light. Sarah felt herself step forward and the noise of the castle disappeared. With a flutter of the drapes from the window, Sarah was standing suddenly inside the very room the crystal had shown.

“Who are you?” The boy stared at her. “Where’s Lucy?”

“You wished your sister to the goblins,” Sarah responded quietly. “So the goblins took her.”

“I thought that was just a silly tale parents told their kids to scare them…” he said, as if denying the plausibility. “Are you a goblin?”

“No,” Sarah responded, looking behind her. There was just the wall. How did she get here? “I’m the goblin queen…”

“You’re too pretty to be a goblin, anyway.” He said that as if it were a crime. “So she really is gone then?”

“Don’t you want your sister back?” Sarah turned to face him, disbelief crossing her face.

“No, not really. She was a real pain…” he said shrugging. “You can keep her.”

With that, the boy left the room. She was about to follow after him, but Sarah felt something clasp against her shoulder and suddenly she was back in the castle. It was dead silent. She felt dazed, unsure of what happened. Questions flooded her mind, as tears stung at her eyes. How could he just not want to get his sister back? Sarah wiped her face with the sleeve of the leather jacket. Sarah turned, realizing it was a hand that had clasped her shoulder, and faced Jareth.

His expression was very solemn, Lucy clung to his leg, looking around fearfully at the goblins.

“He isn’t going to try,” Sarah said to him. “Why wouldn’t he at least try? What about her mom?”

“I’m scared!” Lucy cried.

“Only the wisher can get her back,” Jareth responded, looking down at the little girl. He reached down and picked her up. She threw her arms around his neck tightly, hiding her face into the leather armored jacket he wore. “He refused, so the parent will not remember ever having the child. So shall the wisher.”

“Surely there’s something we can do…” Sarah said quietly.

“Sarah,” Jareth said quietly.

“I know, I’m just…” Sarah, sighed, recalling what he had said the day before.

_“Not every human wishing away a child to the goblins is a put-upon teenager tired of babysitting their little brother every weekend.”_

“Humans can be evil,” Jareth reminded her. “That is why I do what I do. Now what’s your name?” he asked the child in his arms.

“Her name is Lucy,” Sarah said quietly. The little girl looked up and around at her, peering at her through her tears. She had beautiful clear big blue eyes, Sarah could tell, though they were red from crying so much. “I heard her brother call her that.”

“Lucy,” he repeated. “How about we get you cleaned up and get you something to eat. What would you like?”

The little girl rubbed her nose clean from the snot that was pooling from it with her sleeves.

“Ice cream,” she said sniffling.

 

Xxx——————————-xxX

 

Later, Lucy was eating from a large bowl of ice cream in the dining hall. Jareth has sat her between him and Sarah since she was so terrified by the goblins. Lucy seemed completely awestruck by Jareth and followed him nearly everywhere he went for the majority of the day. But she slowly warmed up to Sarah as well.

From the dirty and baggy clothes she had worn before, Sarah never noticed how skinny she really was. She looked to be quite malnourished. Now that she wore a dress, something glittery Jareth had picked out, it was more obvious.

“I don’t want to become a goblin,” she said, looking up at Jareth.

“I don’t think you will,” he said smiling at her kindly.

“But you said children become goblins, and I don’t want to be a goblin.”

“Younger children do who haven’t had time to develop personalities,” he explained. “That’s why they act so silly, sometimes. They are still kind of like babies.”

Lucy seemed to contemplate this for a small bit, shoving more of the blue ice cream into her face. A few of the goblins started to throw fist fulls of their food at one another and laughed.

“Are all goblins children who turned into one?” Lucy looked up at Jareth for a moment before looking at all of the goblins in the room. There was not one moment when they were all perfectly still.

“All the ones in this room, yes,” Jareth said quietly. “That’s why I let them stay in the castle.”

“Do they miss their mommies and daddies?”

“Do you?” Jareth looked at her curiously. Lucy got very quiet for a while again. She went to eat a bit more ice cream, but then sent the spoon down again.

“I miss daddy, I think,” she said in a very quiet voice. “I didn’t see him a lot. But he’s gone for good.”

“What about your brother, and mommy?”

She shook her head, her upper lip curling.

“They weren’t very nice to me,” Lucy stated. She looked at Jareth again. “You can be my new daddy. Then she would be my new mommy,” she pointed at Sarah, then picked up her spoon happily, swinging her feet. “then I would be a princess.”

Sarah realized Jareth was staring at her grinning that same mischievous little lopsided grin he had, and it occurred to her that he must have put the idea in Lucy’s head earlier.

Sarah also realized she kind of liked the idea.

“You can be a princess, if and only if you are kind to my goblins,” Jareth said to her in response. “If you are mean, I will send you to the Bog of Eternal Stench.”

“What’s that?”

“A very stinky place,” Jareth responded. Sarah curled her lip up from the memory of the smell. “I might take you there, though, while I show you around tomorrow.”

Sarah looked at her ears. They were already quite pointed.

“Jareth, has she already turned into a faerie?”

“Yes,” he responded lightly. “Children can turn much faster than adults.”

“Is she a fae, then?” Sarah asked him quizzically.

Jareth squinted his eyes then looked down at Lucy, who peered up at him questioningly.

“No,” he responded, looking at her carefully. He looked up to Sarah and frowned. “Did you really just look at her ears and ask that?”

Lucy touched her ears and became immediately fascinated with them. Sarah looked away from Jareth, immediately embarrassed. She became suspiciously interested in a goblin doing a tap-dance on the table next to his food, much to the annoyance of the others.

“She’s actually a lycan,” he mused. He seemed suddenly struck with a thought. “Sarah, when you were in court, did you think everyone was a fae?”

“Yes?” Sarah stared at him in shock. “I take it by your question that they weren’t though…”

He shook his head and leaned against the table, covering his face.

“There is only a small handful of fae in the world before you became one,” he moaned. “What did I tell you about not judging fae by their looks. Judge them by their abilities and power.”

“Well how do you see that?”

“You don’t see it, Sarah,” he said quietly. “You feel it. Take my father and mother for example. They are both fae, but my father looks completely different. Same with the Erlking. What makes a fae separate from another fae is his or her dominion.”

He straightened up and looked at her tiredly.

“Tomorrow I will start to teach you everything. Tonight I am just tired. It’s been a long day.” He looked down at Lucy. “There is a room made just for you upstairs.”

Sarah looked down at her hands as the fae king stood up and made to leave the room. The goblins had started singing happily, drunk off wine or mead, whatever it was they were drinking. Lucy got up and ran after Jareth after taking a final bite of ice cream. Sarah would follow after a little later, dreading the start of tomorrow.

when Sarah entered Jareth's room, she found him sitting on the window sill, dressed down to his pants and loose white shirt, music once again flowing around him. He was again singing that same song.

"When did you sing that before, Jareth?"

He stopped and peered over at her.

"I sang it to you in the park sometimes. And once before you came back," he said gently. "I made it to help you feel better on the nights you were feeling lonely."

Sarah tilted her head before joining him on the window sill, once again sitting between his legs with his arms wrapped around her. He started singing again, his voice almost lamenting.

_"No one can blame you for walking away_  
_But too much rejection_  
_No love injection_

_"Life can be easy_  
_It's not always swell_  
_Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl_  
_'Cause it hurts like hell_

_"But down in the underground_  
_You'll find someone true_  
_Down in the underground_  
_A land serene, a crystal moon_

_"It's only forever_  
_Not long at all_  
_Lost and lonely_  
_That's underground._

_"Underground_

_"But down in the underground_  
_You'll find someone true_  
_Down in the underground_  
_A land serene, a crystal moon_

_"It's only forever_  
_It's not long at all_  
_They're lost and they're lonely_  
_That's underground._

_"Underground._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! We finally made it past all the introductory stuff. GAH... I told you this was going to be a long fic... so I decided to break it into parts. I got to tell you, I've watched the Labyrinth at least 20 times since I started this fanfic, and listened to the whole soundtrack on repeat.


End file.
